About Us

The ECA Library was established in 1959 to meet the administrative and research information needs of the Commission and the region. The mission of the Library, as a central catalyst for organizational effectiveness, is to continuously enrich and add value to the Commission's knowledge ecosystem, by providing reliable access to high quality resources and services to staff members and other stakeholders, wherever they are located.

The Library was first administered by the Division of Administration and after several years it was moved to the Substantive Division named “Development Information Services Division “(DISD) to undertake activities beyond the routing Library operations. In 2010, the Library joined the ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD) with a new mandate and the section was renamed as “the Library and Information Management Services”. Following the restructuring of ECA in 2013, the section was expanded to incorporate other activities namely, Knowledge Management, Registry operations and Records and Archives Management. The section has since been renamed as the “the Knowledge and Library Services Section (KLSS)” to complement its new role, in the newly created Public Information and Knowledge Management Division (PIKMD).

The Library, which moved to its present location in 1977, is housed in a building with three floors and two basement areas and has one of the most comprehensive collections of materials on economic and social development in Africa.

The ECA Library Collections and Knowledge Services include the following:

General Collection | E-Resources Collection | ECA Publications | Access to Scientific/Socio-economic Knowledge in Africa (ASKIA) | AVLIN African Virtual Library and Information Network| The Archives and Records Management (ARM) | Knowledge Management Services