Around the operational research work which AGI will undertake as part of its positioning to respond fully to the challenges of the promotion of the developmental governance, it is planned during the period 2010 – 2012 to organize a series of political and advocacy dialogues.

These dialogues will also be convened on contemporary governance themes and topics of sub-regional, regional or global interest for which either the articulation of African perspectives are required or an aggregation and harmonization of viewpoints could serve the useful purpose of advancing policy and political action.

As with the agenda of advanced operational research which the Institute will follow, the polical dialogue and advocacy programme will be broadly anchored on the African Governance agenda as agreed within the processes of the AU.

The dialogues will be targeted at high-level participants drawn from the regional and sub-regional institutions, national-level public institutions, the organized private sector, non-governmental organizations, and various international development partners.

They will, in the main, be animated by senior African academics and policy intellectuals with a firsthand knowledge of the themes that would be covered but, as appropriate, research knowledge and expertise will also be sourced from other regions of the world.

The political dialogue and advocacy programme function occurs through:
 High-Level Workshops;
 Annual Thematic Lectures (minimum two per year);
 AGI Fridays Sessions (one per month);
 Physical and virtual spaces for mediation.

By their structure and orientation, the dialogues will, at a minimum, contribute to the nurturing a research-policy nexus in Africa.

But they will also be promoted as fora where senior African policy makers could engage in structured exchanges with the organized private sector, other key non-governmental players, and international development partners on specific thematic or topical questions.

Furthermore, they will allow for a sharing of comparative experiences in developmental governance practice and mutual learning.

Each advanced polical dialogue organized will be structured around a clearly defined question and it will be expected to provide useable outcomes that can help in stimulating further action along the lines desired.

The reports from the dialogues would be distributed both in hard copy and electronically to relevant policy communities across the African continent; they will also be posted on the AGI website to allow for a continuing conversation around the issues covered.