The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) was established in the United Kingdom in 1997 and subsequently registered in Lagos, Nigeria in 1999 as an independent, not-for-profit, research, training, advocacy and capacity building organisation. The Centre was founded to mobilise global opinion and resources for democratic development and provide an independent space to reflect critically on the challenges posed to the democratization and development processes in the West Africa sub-region. As the foremost think tank on democratization and development in West Africa, CDD provides alternatives and best practices in support of democracy and good governance in the region.
CDD is in an exciting phase of its development. It is rapidly expanding its capacity to engage on emergent issues that will shape West African affairs in the coming decade. For example, it is expanding its portfolio on technology and society projects, including combatting false information, studying the use of technology in political campaigning, and an online tool to keep the Nigerian president accountable to his campaign policies. CDD will not stop there it is looking into Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies like Artificial Intelligence and how they will impact society. All this builds upon its established capacity to engage on issues of transitional justice, insecurity and conflict, peace and mediation, and gender rights.