Sall Moustapha GIBIGAYE
Managing DirectorSocio-anthropologist, specialist in population, development and gender issues. Over 20 years of experience with development agencies, ministries and CSOs.
A research-rooted firm, built for impact
Established in 2007 out of university research (CEFORP, University of Abomey-Calavi), CRAD produces strategic knowledge that informs public policy and development programmes across West Africa.
Our story
Nearly twenty years serving development
The Centre de Recherche et d'Appui-conseils pour le Développement (CRAD), in English the Centre for Research and Advisory Support for Development, is a Benin-registered research and advisory firm founded on 2 March 2007 in Abomey-Calavi, by a group of associate consultants reunited after ten years of joint work at the Centre for Training and Research in Population (CEFORP) of the University of Abomey-Calavi.
Initially focused on research in health, education and agriculture, and on collecting, processing and analysing data for funders, CRAD has since expanded into programme evaluation, monitoring and evaluation, and market research. Today the firm has made a decisive shift to digital tools and data, to strengthen the key sectors of sustainable development.
The firm has an international vocation, built on a network of partners and consultants across West and Central Africa (Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Cameroon, Congo, DRC, etc.).
2007
year founded
40+
studies & research
30+
experts & consultants
15
ECOWAS countries assessed
Why choose CRAD?
Six reasons to entrust us with your data
A partner that turns African field data into useful decisions, from the census to the dashboard.
From collection to dashboard
A full chain mastered in-house: digital field collection (CAPI), processing, statistical analysis, monitoring and evaluation, and data visualisation.
Tier-one references
World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, ECOWAS, UNDP, Global Fund: demanding clients entrust us with large-scale regional assignments.
A regional anchor, in French and English
Based in Benin, we deploy quickly across West and Central Africa, reporting in both funder working languages.
Rigour and accountability
Methodologies compliant with research ethics, formalised financial management and full openness to external audits.
Recommendations that get funded
Beyond diagnosis, we deliver budgeted action plans geared towards mobilising finance and scaling up.
A multidisciplinary team
Over 30 specialists and a consultant network, from statisticians and demographers to renewable-energy engineers.
Vision & mission
Knowledge at the heart of public decision
CRAD positions itself as the interface between rigorous scientific output and public decision-making, through a co-production approach with national stakeholders.
Methodological rigour
A mixed-methods approach built on validated instruments, fit-for-purpose sampling, quality-control mechanisms, data triangulation and full compliance with research ethics.
Co-production & anchoring
Close collaboration with line ministries and technical and financial partners, ensuring national ownership of results.
Impact orientation
Operational recommendations geared toward scaling and the sustainability of development interventions.
Governance & organisation
A structured, accountable organisation
CRAD is led by a General Management, supported by a Management Committee and the General Assembly of Partners, an Operations Directorate and five departments.
General Management
Coordinates all bodies, prepares the budget and guarantees the quality of services.
Operations Directorate
Ensures management and technical coordination of the departments' activities.
Management Committee & GA
Advisory body and supreme assembly setting the major strategic orientations.
5 Departments
Administration & Finance; Entrepreneurship & Marketing; Health & Food Security; Climate & Energy; Information & Communication.
Leadership team
High-level, multidisciplinary expertise
Statisticians, demographers, socio-anthropologists, economists, epidemiologists, renewable-energy engineers and managers: CRAD brings together 30+ specialists and a network of associate consultants.
SD
Lead Statistician-Demographer
Surveys & censusesStatistician-Demographer engineer with an international-consultant profile. Over 25 years on major national censuses and several rounds of DHS and MICS surveys across Francophone Africa, from sample design to analysis.
SI
Statistician-IT specialist
Mobile collection & databasesStatistician engineer, 10+ years in quantitative and qualitative research. Specialist in mobile data collection (ODK, Survey Solutions, SurveyToGo, iField) and relational database management (SQL Server, Oracle).
ME
Monitoring & Evaluation specialist
Electronic M&E & dashboardsStatistician engineer leading CRAD's electronic monitoring and evaluation (CommCare, Power BI). Has overseen the delivery of some thirty of the firm's studies, including regional public-health and food-security projects.
AF
Admin & Finance Manager
Management & funder complianceAccountant-manager, nearly 10 years in financial management, bookkeeping, audit and procedures manuals for projects and CSOs.
RE
Renewable-energy & energy-efficiency expert
Climate & transitionEngineer specialising in sustainable energy and energy efficiency: diagnostics, MRV, indices and budgeted action plans for the transition, as on the regional WOCEWA project (energy & gender) across 12 ECOWAS countries.
+
A network of 30+ consultants
Associate expertsEpidemiologists, public-health physicians, agronomists, economists, geographers, lawyers, psychologists and communicators, mobilisable quickly in Benin and across the region.
Resources & capacity
A technical set-up ready to deploy
CRAD deploys an IT fleet (tablets, computers, audio recorders, secure storage solutions) for digital field collection (CAPI) and qualitative surveys, together with a power generator that keeps operations running, even on remote terrain.
On the analysis side, the firm masters the main statistical software (SPSS, Stata, R, CsPro, SAS, EPI INFO, ENA for SMART) and mobile-collection tools (ODK, KoboToolbox, CommCare, Survey Solutions), as well as interactive data visualisation.
Formalised financial management (separation of authorisation, execution and control functions, funder reporting, openness to external audits) attests to CRAD's capacity to deliver large-scale contracts.
Work with usDiscover our areas of work
Climate & energy, agriculture, health, education and data: explore CRAD's expertise sector by sector.