1. What is TrustAfrica?

TrustAfrica is a new African foundation that is tackling some of the continent’s most pressing challenges: violence, discrimination, and economic isolation. We bring together visionary figures — scholars, activists, entrepreneurs, artists, policy makers, and other civic leaders — to set priorities, forge partnerships, and mobilize resources for a safe, free, and prosperous future. More specifically, we seek to strengthen African institutions and regional initiatives that address the challenges of peace and security, regional integration, and citizenship and identity.

2. How does TrustAfrica work?

TrustAfrica begins by hosting thoughtful, imaginative dialogues where Africans from all walks of life — from scholars and opinion leaders to grass-roots activists and people affected by conflict — can set our own priorities and craft our own solutions. Then we make grants to test new ideas and strategies that emerge from these dialogues. These tend to be collaborative projects that combine multiple strategies and connect organizations from different countries and regions. We also provide technical assistance through smaller grants aimed at promoting sound management, transparent governance, effective communication, and sustainable results among African institutions.

3. What kinds of organizations, projects, and initiatives does TrustAfrica support?

Our grantees are selected on the basis of their programming record, convening authority, sound administrative practices, and links to both grassroots organizations and official institutions. We strive to find partners in all five subregions of Africa, and many of them have projects across borders. All grantees must be committed to working closely with one another as well as across subregions or on a continent-wide basis because TrustAfrica does not support country-specific projects. Rather, we convene and support activities that strengthen institutional partnerships for problem solving across borders.

Most of the projects we fund evolve out of our workshops and emphasize collaborative activities. Based on these consultations, we develop clusters of grants to test the ideas and strategies recommended by participants. Together, these grants link institutions working across Africa to (1) strengthen regional frameworks to address the challenges of peace and conflict, regional integration, and citizenship and identity; (2) establish a place for historically marginalized voices in this work; and (3) document and disseminate knowledge about successful African approaches to these challenges. Nearly half of our current grants focus on marginalized groups, such as women, youth, and minorities.

4. What will TrustAfrica achieve over time?

One of our long-term ambitions is to develop a critical mass of closely knit and highly effective institutions that can have a direct and lasting impact on our three programmatic goals: promoting peace and security, democratizing the processes and benefits of regional integration, and addressing the challenges of citizenship and identity. At the same time, we hope to establish ourselves as a self-sustaining foundation that gives Africans a seat at the table among international donors and advances collaborative, regional solutions to African problems.

5. Where does the money come from?

Our lead funder is the Ford Foundation, which laid the groundwork for TrustAfrica in 2001 by establishing a Special Initiative for Africa. In 2005 the initiative was spun off as an independent foundation and renamed TrustAfrica. Ford continues to provide support, but we have begun to diversify our resources with grants from other institutional funders committed to strengthening African institutions that work on regional and subregional issues.

We have also begun to receive contributions from individual donors in Africa and among the diaspora. Our goal is to inspire 10,000 individuals to contribute US$100 per year, showing that Africans are capable of generating their own philanthropic resources. While ambitious, this effort is an essential way to ensure that TrustAfrica can be self-sustaining and that Africans will take ownership of its work.

6. Who runs TrustAfrica?

TrustAfrica is governed and led entirely by Africans with extensive experience in development, philanthropy, and other pertinent fields. Our founding premise was that Africans need a greater voice within the international donor community as well as philanthropic resources that we control ourselves. Accordingly, TrustAfrica’s board is composed of dedicated scholars, development professionals, and grant makers from throughout the continent.

7. Why should I donate to TrustAfrica?

Sometimes it makes sense to give money directly to the intended beneficiary. But instead of consuming resources on overhead, TrustAfrica brings added value. For one thing, we provide our grantees with technical assistance to help them do their work more effectively. Contributions to TrustAfrica are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers and may be eligible for matching funds from the Ford Foundation. Also, by advocating regional solutions and paving the way for African philanthropy, we aim to leverage additional funds from the international donor community. Finally, at TrustAfrica, we place great stock in openness, accountability, sound management, and transparent governance. We strive to embody these qualities in our own operations — and instill them among our partners through technical assistance — because we believe that Africa cannot thrive without accountable civic institutions.

8. Does TrustAfrica make grants to non-African organizations?

We focus on organizations and institutions that are based in Africa. Occasionally, though, organizations and programs that are headquartered elsewhere but have substantial operations on the continent do participate in our activities.

9. Where is TrustAfrica located?

TrustAfrica opened its headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, in 2006. You can reach us here: