Africa is in a new debt crisis with the majority of low to medium income countries now officially in the unsustainable debt red zone. For example, Kenya has been in the news recently with reports that 60% of all public revenues generated are going to servicing debts. This has destabilized the macroeconomic environment resulting in depreciation of the Kenyan shilling and skyrocketing inflation to devastating socio-economic effects on the population. The debt burden is threatening a reversal of progressive policies such as free public education that Kenya implemented following the Jubilee Debt cancellation.
In last year’s editions of our newsletter, we introduced you to our three pillars of work around democracy and governance, equitable development, and African philanthropy. This year, we are looking forward to introducing you to the core strategies we use in delivering our work namely, grantmaking, African knowledge and research generation, capacity strengthening, and movement building.
Since its birth in 2006 TrustAfrica has prioritized movement building as one of its primary strategies. In a sense, you could even say that the story of TrustAfrica emanated from a movement building process. For those who are unfamiliar with our history, TrustAfrica was born out of a movement by eminent African leaders within the Ford Foundation system who invited Ford Foundation to trust Africans to identify the most pressing challenges facing our continent, and to provide significant resources which could be channeled to proximate change agents on the continent. Ford Foundation decided to provide an endowment towards the establishment of an African-led foundation rather than setting up more Ford offices on the continent. This movement of African leaders around the agency of Africans remains at the core of everything we do to promote responsible citizenship and accountable leadership in addressing Africa’s most pressing challenges
TrustAfrica, through its project “West African Philanthropy Support Ecosystem,” contributes to building a movement of philanthropic actors to strengthen the Philanthropy Support Ecosystem in West Africa. This project is a collaboration with WINGS that aims to engage philanthropy networks, support organizations, funders, and other relevant stakeholders from a set of West African Countries to identify the challenges and opportunities for developing a robust support ecosystem for giving and philanthropy in the region and to build a roadmap for self-owned and sustainable regional philanthropy development. The project is informed through participatory processes involving the establishment of a Steering Committee of philanthropy support organizations as well as research and consultations with the field.
The Inclusivity Project, resourcing the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFOD) and the African Network on Discrimination based on Work, Descent and Contemporary Slavery (ANDS) are looking for a highly motivated bilingual (English and French) individual from the African continent to become part of our team.
The full-time role (with the possibility to be part time) is remote and requires occasional international travel.
Women, youth and other underrepresented and marginalized groups are highly encouraged to apply.
TrustAfrica is pleased to join the Senegalese Social Forum, Africans Rising”, CONGAD and other organisations to co-organize the Alternative World Water Forum (FAME) which will take place in Dakar from 21 to 26 March 2022, at CICES. During this alternative meeting, which will be held at the same time as the World Water Forum, TrustAfrica will have the pleasure of organizing panels and roundtables on issues related to access to water for the most vulnerable layers of Africa and elsewhere.
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| Download the call for proposal in PDF |
Closing date: Friday 25 March 2022 at 1700 GMT
TrustAfrica is pleased to announce a new grant making initiative invites applications from suitably qualified organisations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso to apply for capacity and core operational support grants under its “African Civil Society Support Initiative.”
This initiative seeks to provide core operational support for civil society organisations demonstrating a good record of accomplishment, especially in relation to policy advocacy and in elevating women’s voices on health and development concerns in Africa. Recognising the need for strong organisational capacity and for flexibility to deliver stellar programs and campaigns, we are proud to provide through this subaward mechanism, an ecosystem of support to promising and agile civil society organizations to sustain their operations, retain key staff, and to strengthen leadership and mission focus, administrative and management capacity, and financial stability. Civil society organisations working to advance gender justice, financial inclusion, and equitable health delivery across the continent should apply. We trust in a strong civil society that underpins a holistic space for diverse efforts which build trust and accountability between citizens and their institutions. To do that effectively, we believe this support will help civil society be more resilient, nimble, and durable.
On Friday, 04 February 2022, TrustAfrica's Programs Director, Briggs Bomba is giving a keynote at the side session during the Africa Union (AU) Summit themed 'Building resilience in nutri on on the African con nent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development. The side session is hosted by The Stop the Bleeding (STB) Campaign. The session is themed “Reaffirming the People's Demand for a Pan African Agenda on Finance and Development.” While COVID-19 has made the need for global solutions to global challenges more urgent, the Global North has half-heartedly supported efforts to enhance equitable access to vaccines. Likewise, opportunities to address the long-standing challenges of harmful tax competition on fuelling corporate tax avoidance, systemic gender inequality, sustainable debt financing, and addressing climate change have failed to prioritize the Global South. Last year, through its consortium members, the Stop the Bleeding Campaign made impassioned demands on global minimum tax reforms and sustainable debt management. Notably, the AU Special Envoys recommended that AU develop a common African position for the reform of the international financial architecture and advocate for this objective. Some of the critical highlights of AU Special Envoys included implementing the recommendations of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on debt sustainability and improving domestic resource mobilization to support Africa's development financing by upscaling efforts to curb illicit financial flows and enhance revenue collection by strengthening tax administrations.
To commemorate the passing of Professor Cheikh Anta Diop, a foremost Nationalist, Pan-Africanist, and Internationalist, La Place du Souvenir Africain and TRUSTAFRICA are organizing a hybrid panel (face-to-face and online) on Monday 7 February 2022 at 9:30 GMT at the Place du Souvenir Africain.
The theme of the roundtable is Cheikh Anta Diop, Nationalist, Pan-Africanist, and Internationalist.
TrustAfrica is a Pan-African Philanthropic Organization established in 2006 that seeks to strengthen initiatives that address the most difficult challenges confronting the continent. Our dream of a better Africa resonates with the continent's vision and roadmap as expressed in the African Union's Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We currently focus on three critical areas: Democracy and Governance, Equitable Development and Economic Justice, and African Philanthropy. As a catalyst and convener, we are committed to generating and testing new ideas.
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery: Invitation to Virtual Public Lecture
TrustAfrica, Amnesty International, ASW and the African Network against Discrimination Based on Work, Descent and Contemporary Slavery (ANDS) wish to jointly invite you to a virtual public lecture to commemorate the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. The theme of the lecture is: “Online and offline hate crimes against abolitionists and DWD communities in West Africa.”
