Africans in UK Seek Improved Philanthropic Initiatives

The Ford Foundation Office of West Africa (OWA) in collaboration with PaTiTi Consulting recently convened its first edition of the African Philanthropy Dialogues in London, to discuss alternative approaches and strategies in addressing the rising issues affecting the philanthropy community in Africa.

Conversations at the event centered on opportunities available to Africans in the diaspora to create sustainable and lasting change in Africa’s philanthropic landscape especially in recent times, when foreign donor funding to African civil society organisations (CSOs) was increasingly dwindling, and when more than ever, there is the need to partner with local CSOs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to create the needed impact in various sectors in Africa.Speaking on the proposed roadmap towards Africa’s philanthropic success, Regional Director of the Ford Foundation OWA, Dr. ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye, said the foundation was eager to have a conversation with Africans in the diaspora, to get them thinking about their approach to giving and whip up their interest in addressing the development challenges in Africa.

Aniagolu-Okoye, was further quoted in a statement to have said one key point of discussion was to figure out how to encourage people in the diaspora to consider carrying out their philanthropic work through local CSOs in Africa.

“We find these local CSOs to be very effective in the delivery of the needed change we envision for Africa because they are closer to the communities, understand the issues, have built networks in the communities and with governments, and possess crosscutting measures to tackle developmental issues in much cheaper ways,” she said.

Keynote speaker for the conversation and former Director of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), Mrs. Theo Sowa, said the only way Africans could address issues back home was by strategically investing in projects and initiatives and move away from the distrust storyline trumpeted among Africans.

She explained that, “when it comes to philanthropic giving in Africa, it’s time we go further than just individual giving. Diaspora giving should rise to include a strategic approach that leads to lasting development and impact that would strengthen the continent’s structures and institutions leading to a self-sustaining continent.

“We have to get out of the mindset and narrative that we cannot trust ourselves as Africans to address our own issues. Back home, we have countless examples of organizations making the needed difference through philanthropic initiatives.”

For her, these are testaments to the great work that can be done when the right support is given.

In a fireside chat with Adam Heal, Director of Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), and Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima, Senior Program Officer at the Ford Foundation OWA presented participants with real-life experiences on how diasporan funding through local CSOs can make the needed change.