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Measurement instruments are increasingly important in the contemporary government of African. They are central to the rise of economic performance as a tool for reforming development aid and states. This has led to the emergence of new intervention methods (including experimentation and quantification) and generated political reconfigurations. These tools mobilise specific knowledge and experts, and put states in ambiguous positions. States must respect the technical infrastructure of international interventions, but they are also able to manœuvre into favourable positions, especially with respect to their populations. Instruments also make “infiltration” possible: international donors no longer impose conditions from the outside, but prefer to act from within African states through techniques, measurements, standards, evaluation tools and specific terminology.