The Institute
A research institute for accountability
Based in Bamako, the HAKILI Institute for Governance and Accountability in Africa (IHGR) carries out research, measurement and publication work on how the rules of public governance are designed, applied and monitored, in Mali and across the continent.
Mission
The Institute’s mission is to produce and share the knowledge needed to judge public action on the evidence. Accountability cannot simply be decreed. It requires the rule to be known, its application to be observed and the gap between the two to be measured, then brought to the attention of those entitled to demand an account, whether citizens, parliaments, courts or the State’s partners.
While the laws adopted in recent years, in Mali and across the region, formally enshrine duties of transparency and accountability, their implementation remains uneven in practice and is seldom documented. For this reason the Institute combines legal analysis, empirical enquiry and the construction of indices, so that every finding can be checked, discussed and compared over time.
Hakili
In Bambara, hakili means intelligence and the capacity for discernment. The Institute grew out of the HAKILI Network, an existing association whose extraordinary general meeting initiated its change of name and the overhaul of its statutes, with the aim of moving from civic engagement to the production of verifiable knowledge.
Method
Our approach
Four steps, always in the same order, from the rule of law to public debate.
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Establish the rule
Identify the applicable text, its scope and the obligations it lays down, whether a law, a decree, a contract or an international commitment whose implementation is being assessed.
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Observe practice
Collect, under explicit protocols, the data, documents and testimonies that show how the rule is actually applied.
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Measure the gap
Characterise and, wherever possible, quantify the distance between what the rule provides and what is observed in practice, using sourced indicators.
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Make it public
Publish the findings, open them to discussion and make recommendations that can inform public decision-making.
Bodies
Governance
The general meeting brings together the members of the Institute. It elects a board of directors of seven members for a three-year term. An executive bureau, led by the Executive Director, runs the Institute’s activities.
Executive Bureau
Dr Soumaila LAH
Executive Director
A doctor of law specialising in the regulation of extractive industries, Dr Soumaila LAH is a lecturer-researcher and a consultant in governance and public policy reform. His work covers African mining and petroleum law, technology transfer and local content in extractive industries, public finance governance, security sector reform and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
The author of a doctoral thesis on the regulation of extractive industries in Mali, he led the 2023 mid-term evaluation of the action plan of Mali’s National Security Sector Reform Strategy and teaches tax law at bachelor’s and master’s level.
Dr Ilo Allaye Diall
Secretary General
Governance
Board of Directors
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Pr Bréhima Kamena
Full Professor, Université Kurukanfuga de Bamako
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El-Ghassim Ouane
Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Mali and Head of MINUSMA
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Nana Touré
President of the NGO SAGOPS, Coordinator of the Citizen Alliance in Support of Security Sector Reform (AC-RSS)
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Ousmane Sy
Former Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation
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Dr Paul Traoré
Acting Rector, Université Kurukanfuga de Bamako
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Birama Sidibé
Former Vice-President of the Islamic Development Bank, former senior official of the African Development Bank and former Executive Director of Shelter Afrique
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Yves Gueymard
Consultant
Join the Institute’s work
Researchers, practitioners, institutions and partners can contribute to the Institute’s work, whether by taking part in a study, rolling out an index in a new country or hosting a presentation of findings.