Since the 1960s and until now, both foreign and domestic philanthropy has been on the rise in Africa. At the same time, foreign philanthropy has gotten more mainstream recognition than the domestic one. Let us unpack these forms of philanthropy and propose that the African Diaspora and its allies have a great role to play in to designing and generating more prosperity in Africa.
Foreign philanthropic giving to Africa has been primarily channeled through big corporations, global foundations, and multinational institutions. According to the Foundation Center’s data, total number of US foundations giving to Africa has grown from 135 in 2002 to 248 in 2012, while the total funding amount has increased from $289 million to $1.46 billion during the same period. Also, 36 out of the 54 African countries were among the grant recipients. However, these figures do not include the in-kind forms of philanthropy that most Africans receive and depend on.
Domestic philanthropy within Africa has been primarily represented through local foundations, community groups, and wealthy individuals. In modern day Africa, funding is typically raised through high-net-worth Africans making donations to institutions or causes, local organizations finding ways to raise funds from a variety of sources, or communities pooling resources together to tackle their own challenges. These are all local solutions to deal with local problems. For instance, the Safaricom Foundation based in Kenya invests in various sectors, such as health, education, economic empowerment, water, technology, and disaster relief for Kenyan people.
The most notable U.S. organizations that have given millions to billions of dollars to the continent include: Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Open Society Foundations, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and similar ones. Many of them choose to fund multinational institutions, such as the World Health Organization, which has several programs throughout Africa. While private foundations receive most of the attention for the U.S. giving to Africa, tax exempt nonprofit charities that are based in the USA and have operations in Africa are playing a significant role too.
The most notable African men that are of high-net-worth philanthropist are: Aliko Dangote and Dangote Foundation in Nigeria, Nicky Oppenheimer and Brenthurst Foundation in South Africa, Patrice Motsepe and Motsepe Foundation in South Africa, Mohammed Dewji and Mo Dewji Foundation in Tanzania, and Strive Masiyiwa and Higherlife Foundation in Zimbabwe. The most notable African women that are of high-net-worth philanthropist are: Olajumoke Adenowo and Awesome Treasures Foundation in Nigeria, Ndidi Nwuneli and LEAP Africa in Nigeria, and Tsitsi Masiyiwa and Higherlife Foundation in Zimbabwe. All these foundations are funding and supporting programs and projects in their local countries of origin respectively.
The foreign philanthropic approach to Africa from non-Africans has been about providing funds and conducting research towards programs related to health, environment, agriculture, education, sanitation, hunger, family planning, disaster relief, and institutional capacity. The beneficiaries of such funds are children, youth, women, girls, people with disabilities, and people with HIV/AIDS. Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa have been listed among the top grant recipients.
The domestic philanthropic approach for Africa by Africans has been about providing human resources and doing grassroots work to solve problems related to health, education, economic empowerment, water, technology, and disaster relief. The beneficiaries of such support are unemployed women, underprivileged kids, needy entrepreneurs, disabled individuals, elder folks, and so on. The poorest African countries that need more help are Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Liberia, and Niger.
Foreign philanthropy tends to get more mainstream recognition. The U.S. has helped Africa with increasing access to food, energy and water. They have used an abundance of resources (academic and technological) to assist less privileged Africans. Ironically, Africa has plenty of food, energy and water to take care of itself. However, many Africans still suffer from hunger, and lack of access to clean water and electricity.
Domestic philanthropy tends to get less mainstream recognition. Africans in Africa have also helped increasing access to food, energy and water. They were able to utilize traditional funding methods (Harambees, Tontines and Susu) to assist those less privileged or impoverished.
The African Diaspora and its allies have a great role to play in designing and developing a future version of philanthropy that would generate more prosperity in Africa. Assumingly, the most effective form of philanthropy in Africa will most likely come from those that are deeply and genuinely passionate about engaging on-the-ground to empower the local communities as integral players in progressive initiatives and programs.
The power of homemade philanthropy and its ability to bring positive change, to empower native Africans, and to develop long-term solutions that benefit everyone is central to Africa’s prosperous future. This is particularly important for attaining social impact and financial independence throughout the continent. Thus, the African Diaspora is in a pivotal position to use their cultural heritage and traditional African intelligence to package and deliver philanthropy that's much more effective and efficient than it is today. To be continued…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tony K Ansah, Jr. is a self-published author, a public administrator by profession, and a social entrepreneur based in Rhode Island, U.S.A. He is also the founder and owner of Ansah Africa, a consulting and marketing startup established in 2017.
Email: tkansahjr@outlook.com or owusu@ansahmisc.com
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the SDG Philanthropy Platform. The SDG Philanthropy Platform is a global initiative that connects philanthropy with knowledge and networks that can deepen collaboration, leverage resources and sustain impact, driving SDG delivery within national development planning. It is led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), and supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Oak Foundation, Brach Family Charitable Foundation, and many others.
References:
1 https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/a-new-era-for-african-philanthropy/
2 https://www.cafamerica.org/just-charity-nexus-impact-philanthropy-investment-african-context/
3 https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2018/4/19/rise-of-the-rest-africas-new-philanthropists
4 http://fortune.com/2016/05/31/africas-female-philanthropists/
5 http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/funding_for_africa2015.pdf
6 https://www.afrasiabank.com/en/about/contact/afrasia-bank-africa-wealth-report
7 http://ayibamagazine.com/afrilanthropy-why-african-philanthropy-needs-its-own-name/