CSEA receives support under the Think Tank Initiative (TTI), a wide-ranging multi-donor support initiative for think-tanks in developing countries, funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the William and Flora Hewlett and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations. CSEA is one of 24 think tanks in Africa to qualify under the TTI out of some 300 applicants.

The IDRC grant support to CSEA under the TTI (Think Tank Initiative) is instrumental in placing the think tank on a sustainable path and in facilitating its transformation from a “start-up” to a viable center of policy research.