By Dr Ibrahim Kasirye The annual Global Go To Think Tank Index released last week by the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tank and Civil Societies Program shows that institutions in East Africa continue to rank highly within the global index. The 2013 rankings show that the Nairobi based African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) remains the most highly rated think tank in the region. The AERC moved from 7 th position in 2012 to the 3 rd in 2013 among the top 40 think tanks in sub Saharan Africa. The Global Go To Think Tank Index was launched in 2008 and is compiled through balloting by other research institutions and journalists. The highest ranking Think Tank in the world is the US based Brookings Institution. The AERC, which celebrated its Silver Jubilee, last year, is a research network of economists. It holds bi-annual research workshops and has been at the forefront of training economists through collaborative Doctoral and Masters programmes in Economics, and Agr