Introducing Savanna Group, a boutique policy consulting firm supporting inclusive policy transformations in Sub-Saharan Africa
At Savanna Group, we specialize in facilitating impactful policy transformations across Sub-Saharan Africa. We partner with governments, industries, and communities to deliver expert technical support to ensure important issues get on the policy agenda, inclusive and transformative policies are developed, and mechanisms for implementation deliver intended impacts. We are committed to fostering inclusive growth and well-being of the people in this region.
Our approach
Government-Centered Approach: Our belief is that sustainable and scalable improvements in public service delivery are best achieved through government leadership and involvement.
Deep Sectoral Analysis: We conduct thorough sectoral system analyses before defining specific interventions, dedicating significant time upfront to understand the context deeply.
Local Expertise and Onboarding: Key staff leading projects in specific countries are chosen for their organic connection to these regions and undergo comprehensive onboarding to ensure effective engagement.
Adaptive and Collaborative Methods: Our approach is adaptive and iterative, leveraging cross-country peer learning and competition to drive progress. We also rely on deep political economy insights and foster trust relationships with key local actors to address systemic challenges effectively.
Every engagement is unique, and is treated as such
Our work has taken us across multiple sectors - from malaria control, climate change mainstreaming at the national level, agriculture and agribusiness, and sanitation. We see common threads across these issues, but we also know that no two issues are the same.
We customise each engagement by carefully engaging key actors, and integrating technical knowledge & experience with the political and social contexts. We have developed a track record of designing and executing inclusive policy change processes, that align incentives of even hitherto competing interests.
We deploy a systems-thinking worldview that enables us to see through unobvious blind spots
At Savanna Group, we adopt a systems thinking approach. We put people at the center of how we think about change and strive to understand the incentives that drive decision making at multiple levels of society – households, governments, businesses, international community among other interest groups.
Change happens within fairly complex settings, and we have perfected the art of threading the link between social, political and economic considerations and how these influence decision making at individual, household and institutional levels.
We have access, credibility, and agility
Savanna Group LLC excels in driving policy change and stakeholder engagement across Sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging the extensive experience and proven track records of its founders.
The organization's expertise in digital transformation, WSH, agribusiness, and climate systems change stems from the past work of its key team members, who have held senior roles in the region. Savanna Group effectively engages with policy and political decision-makers, utilizing the robust networks established by its founders with academia, think tanks, CSOs, the private sector, and governments.
Our flexible, iterative approach, shaped by past experiences, adapts to complex challenges, ensuring our unique ability to facilitate inclusive policy development and implementation, making us a trusted partner for impactful change across Eastern, Southern, and West Africa.
Our services
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Agenda Setting
At Savanna Group, we focus on setting impactful agendas to enhance public service delivery. Our approach includes assessing the context to understand baseline issues, engaging strategically with key stakeholders, and collaborating with champions and influential voices. This allows us to highlight critical issues and drive progress effectively, ensuring that our efforts lead to sustainable and scalable improvements in the public sector.
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Facilitating Policy Change
Engaging with Stakeholders: We work closely with key individuals and groups to ensure their voices are heard and their interests are considered.
Providing Expert Insights: We bring in the necessary evidence and technical knowledge to inform the policy change process, ensuring decisions are well-founded.
Coordinating Efforts: We manage and streamline the policy change process, ensuring all parties are aligned and working towards common goals.
Monitoring Progress: We keep a close eye on the policy change process, tracking developments to ensure it stays on course and achieves its objectives.
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Policy Implementation Support
Engaging and Managing Stakeholders: We collaborate with essential individuals and groups to ensure smooth and effective policy implementation.
Supporting Strategy Development: We assist in creating robust strategies for putting policies into action.
Managing Coordination Platforms: We oversee platforms that facilitate collaboration across different sectors.
Reviewing and Learning: We continuously review the policy implementation process and gather insights to improve future efforts.
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Technical Assistance for Policy Change and Political Prioritization Execution
Designing Advocacy Strategies: We help develop effective strategies for advocating policy changes.
Navigating Challenges: We assist our partners in overcoming obstacles in complex and uncertain environments.
Tracking Progress: We monitor milestones and maintain trackers to ensure the policy change process stays on course.
Optimizing for Inclusivity and Sustainability: We suggest modifications to ensure policies are inclusive, widely accepted, and sustainable.
Assessing Investments: We evaluate the investments made in policy change efforts to ensure they are effective and impactful. goes here
Meet our team
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Eric Omwanza Momanyi
Founder and Managing Director
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Larissa O’Connor, MD
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Mercy Mkandawire
Associate, Global Health & NTDs
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Our blog
Policy Making 101: Highlights of the Policy Making Process
By Eric Momanyi
Public policy can be defined as what government plans to do or chooses not to do in response to a particular issue. The action chosen (if the government chooses to do something) goes through a process, starting with acknowledging that the problem is worth paying attention to, to evaluating whether that solution is working as intended.
Public policy can be defined as what government plans to do or chooses not to do in response to a particular issue.
Different actors are involved in the policy cycle including but not limited to politicians, the media, policy technocrats, researchers business people, interest groups (activists, lobbyists) and the public. Each of these actors plays different roles in each stage of this cycle. Below, I will highlight the four broad steps in the policy-making process, highlighting some key issues at each stage that may be of interest:
Agenda Setting
Agenda setting refers to the ability to influence what is considered an important problem worthy of a solution. The media play a very important role here but so do politicians and the government. Agendas can further be split into public and formal agenda. It's possible to have an issue that the public thinks should be addressed but which nevertheless does not get into the formal policy agenda for instance opinion polls. Only problems that make it to the formal agenda move to the next stage.
Whoever influences what is placed on the formal agenda has real power. The media and politicians largely have the most influence over what gets on the formal policy agenda. This process is in most cases not immune to interference from entities that stand to lose or gain from a potential policy.
Policy Formulation
Even when it is clear that a problem is worth solving, different people will have differing views regarding what is the best alternative solution. These differences may result from different moral viewpoints, interests, and incentives among others. Research plays a key role in helping to minimize the differences by providing an objective cost-benefit analysis of each alternative scenario. Depending on the stakes associated with the potential change, this process could also be influenced.
At this stage, the policy is drafted and approved by the respective authorizing entity according to the law. This stage can take anywhere from a few weeks to years depending on the level of contention on the subject matter and interests of individuals with influence over the process.
Policy Implementation
Formulating a policy does not solve the problems being addressed. This policy must be operationalized, financed and enforced to achieve this. Factors that may impact policy implementation include but are not limited to 1) bureaucratic incompetence; 2) bureaucratic resistance; 3) limited resource allocation; and 4) eventual policy modifications. As you will notice, institutions keen on change should not rest on their laurels once the policy has been passed. Sometimes, the focus may shift towards safeguarding the new solution from assault through weak implementation.
Policy Evaluation
Once implemented, the natural expectation is that the policy will achieve the desired change. Policy evaluation is an assessment of the performance of the policy towards this end. Policy evaluation will assess policy compliance and extract lessons learnt to improve the future re-formulation of the policy. Researchers have a critical role to play here.
Policy development is usually an incremental process, and the evidence derived from the functioning of a particular policy plays an important role in improvements that refine the policy itself. Convincing evidence from policy evaluations has the potential to feedback into the policy agenda thereby completing the policy cycle.
Even though this process seems linear and straightforward, it can be highly complex in reality. Moving from one step to another can take 20 years or a couple of days depending on the issue. Different actors make active attempts along the process to sway the outcome to serve their interests. In most cases, the people with the most power call the shots. In a different article, I outlined some guidelines on how to wage war in public policy, especially when the stakes are too high.
Other titles in this series:
1) Policy Making 101: 6 tips to influence the policy agenda
2) The Art of War: Successfully Waging the 'Battle' to Influence Public Policy
