Brenthurst Foundation

The Brenthurst Foundation is a Johannesburg-based think-tank established by the Oppenheimer family in 2004 to support the Brenthurst Initiative in seeking ways to fund African development and to organize conferences on African competitiveness. The Foundation was created to build on the Oppenheimers' Brenthurst Initiative of August 2003. The Initiative was designed to instigate a debate in South Africa around policy strategies to achieve higher rates of economic expansion. Today the Foundation now has a wider African focus and aims to find ways to draw the investment needed for "continental regeneration and prosperity". The organisation intends to make a worthwhile contribution to economic growth in Africa by creating an environment conducive to positive economic change in order to strengthen the importance of Africa in the global market. It works to set up government policy platforms for economic development through organising high-level governmental dialogues, supporting economic and political research on topical and important issues, and disseminating practical policy advice to relevant actors. The organisation has been described as a frontier of knowledge for strengthening Africa’s economic performance. The Foundation has been active in a range of roles in various countries across the continent, including in Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Zanzibar, Malawi, Lesotho, Somaliland, Sudan, Rwanda, Mozambique, Mali, Eswatini, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Ethiopia.