Africa

Before TrustAfrica was set up, there was no African foundation that worked at a continental level explicitly on issues with regional and continental dimensions.[1] The very scale of Africa’s problems was potentially paralysing. How could …

‘We will fight for our independence. We will do things our way,’ declared one participant on the closing afternoon of the 1st Pan African Assembly of the African Grantmakers Network (AGN). His sentiment was echoed …

Philanthropic investment firm the Omidyar Network is to provide $2 million over two years to set up the Africa Transparency and Technology Initiative (ATTI). The Nairobi-based fund is one of a number of initiatives Omidyar …

Balancing the bold vision of the foundation presidents who initiated it with the day-to-day challenges faced by the programme officers who had to put that vision into practice was an ongoing challenge for the ten-year …

‘Wealth is not what a man has; it’s what he gives away.’ Ancient Nigerian proverb about philanthropy The current recession has caused worldwide soul-searching about whether conventional capitalism is the right economic model for the …

Jacana Venture Partnership announced at the end of June its first investment in an African venture capital (VC) fund manager, InReturn Capital, an East African SME investment firm based in Kenya. SMEs are generally acknowledged …

Femina HIP, the citizen media initiative, started as a small project in Tanzania in 1999. By 2010, Femina had become the country’s biggest ‘citizen’ media platform, and a significant shaper of contemporary culture and values, …

There is a clear need for an institutional structure to lead, coordinate and expand the development of Kenya’s social investment sector. With this in mind, Allavida, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, has embarked on the …

Given Liberia’s recent history, it’s almost impossible to imagine my country as the starting point for a positive social innovation like the exciting new collaborative model for philanthropy that we are now piloting. But fortunately, …

At the end of the first decade of the new millennium, it is clear that many countries will fail to meet several of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Compelling reasons might be advanced for …