In September 2013 the African Grantmakers Network launched the African Philanthropy Bulletin, a monthly e-newsletter highlighting philanthropy developments from around the continent. The bulletin includes a Think Piece section, whose aim is to share ideas and knowledge on philanthropy developments, best practices, achievements and news on the African continent.

Neville Gabriel, AGN board member and Southern Africa Trust’s former executive director, contributed to the inaugural Think Piece. His article ‘Philanthropy as active citizenship’ discusses how some of the biggest shifts in development in Africa start when citizens become active agents of change in their own lives, and philanthropy evolves from a model of elite benefactors towards a more socialized practice of active citizenship.

A subsequent article by Tony Elumelu, founder and chairman of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, on the theme of ‘Africapitalism in philanthropy’ sets the context for Africa’s next philanthropy challenge: Africa’s economic growth in the last decade and what this means for philanthropists in Africa. He writes: ‘The information people have about Africa in America and the western world is one of aid, one of squalor, one of poverty, one of religious crisis … They need to begin to see that Africa is a continent of economic opportunities.’

AGN welcomes articles from individuals and organizations in the philanthropy sector.

For more information
http://www.africangrantmakersnetwork.org
To contribute contact Joyce Ambale at joycea@africangrantmakersnetwork.org