Inclusive growth and development will require structural transformation of African economies, which implies modernization, industrialization and a change from economies that are based on subsistence agriculture and primary commodities to ones that are fueled more by manufacturing and value addition. Economic transformation in Africa demands that the state play a central role—using a comprehensive development framework—in planning, articulating and implementing policies aimed at ensuring efficient allocation of resources. But the state must have the capacity to do this, as well as the institutions to link the bureaucracy with key stakeholders. Crucially, it must have the legitimacy to mobilize all stakeholders around a nationally owned development framework, including its vision and targets. In other words, transformation in Africa will require a developmental state. It is therefore important for the state that is accountable and responsive to the needs of its population to assume its developmental responsibility and guide sustainable social and economic development in African countries. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of African national planning institutions to integrate accountability frameworks and evidence-based policies in their development planning processes and to strengthen the capacity of African national statistics institutions to collect, compile and produce the data necessary to inform and support development planning. The bedrock of this process is an evidence-based and data-driven policy-making approach, which relies on building credible accountability frameworks into the planning process with specific milestones and targets that can be verified, measured, and monitored. The project will be implemented in two phases: (i) Strengthened capacity of the national planning institutions in five African countries to develop, adopt and implement a national strategy for integration of accountability frameworks and evidence-based policy-making in Development planning; (ii) Strengthened capacities of national statistical institutions in five African countries to collect, compile, produce and use data to monitor and assess the integration of accountability frameworks and evidence-based policy making in planning processes. The project draws on ECA’s long standing experience with supporting member States and pan-African institutions in the design and articulation of development planning, which remains a priority area for specialized regional advisory services and meaningful capacity development support to member States. Consequently, this project falls under the work programme outlined in the ECA Strategic Framework for 2016-2017, but also responds to the emerging development priorities of Africa, while focusing on the continents’ transformative agenda contained in both the Post-2015 Development agenda and the African Union Agenda 2063.