logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Beyond Good Intentions: Restating the Case for Civil Society Support in Africa

Titilope Ajayi
August 14, 2015
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Africa-outline

June 30, 2015; South African Civil Society Information Service

In hindsight, Alexander O’Riordan’s ruminations on the 2013 shutdown of the South African Institute for Democracy in Africa must seem eerily prescient after the South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS), to which he contributed, announced its closure on June 30th. The downsizing and imminent or outright closure of key African civil society organizations (CSOs) in recent years—what O’Riordan terms the “demise of African civil society”—are symptomatic of a common specter: a lack of sufficient funds to meet operational costs. If unchecked, the trend could weaken “third sector” voice and vibrancy with attendant implications for democratic governance in Africa.

O’Riordan advances several reasons for the financial crisis, including overestimating the good intentions of donors; pushing more for beneficiaries’ needs than their own institutional ones; a general inability/incapacity to speak to and defend the needs of critical CSOs contesting political spaces, and, critically, donors not fulfilling funding commitments and CSOs’ failure to hold them to account and follow the money trail.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

But this is not as easy as it sounds, as proven by CSOs’ demand for greater transparency in corporate and donor financial flows and expenditures prior to the July 2015 Third Finance for Development meeting in Addis Ababa. Even if African civil society does succeed in tracking aid investment, donor priorities will always be determined by prevailing political interests.

Proponents of African corporate philanthropy as panacea may be underestimating how much African businesses need to be on good terms with host governments, thereby informing their preference for safe projects focused mostly on meeting the most basic infrastructural needs of overlooked communities.

There are no easy answers. However, as African CSOs continue to awaken to the frightening reality of the evolving politics of aid to civil society, clearly earnest conversations must be had within thematic sectors and countries, as well as across regions, to broker agreement on practical ways forward for civil society’s continued existence and growth and engagement with core development issues and actors.—Titilope Ajayi

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Titilope Ajayi

Titilope is an independent editor, writer, and civil society and gender and security scholar. She is currently a PhD student of international affairs at the University of Ghana, Legon, and also a 2017/8 Social Science Research Council Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Doctoral Fellow. For more, follow her on Twitter: @MataLope

More about: Civil Societycorporate philanthropydonor disclosureNonprofit NewsPhilanthropyTransparency

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the Arts
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams
Using a Data-Driven Strategy to Advance Racial Equity in Grantmaking
Heather Lenz, Ariel Jordan and Catherine Smith
Protecting Nonprofits That Protect Us During Crises—and Beyond
Aisha Benson and Jen Talansky
Reimagining Philanthropy to Build a Culture of Repair
Aria Florant and Venneikia Williams

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
February 23rd, 2 pm ET

Worker Power in the Social Sector

Register Now
Group Created with Sketch.
March 15th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Caring for the Care Economy

Register Now
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the...
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.