One of the legacies of colonialism is the narrative that African states are incapable of effecting inclusive and transformative impact without foreign aid, either in the form of multilateral and bilateral funding or from private foundations. Indeed, philanthropy has made important contributions to supporting efforts aimed at ensuring Africa’s political, economic and social transformation.
Philanthropy’s role in the fight for equitable and democratic transformation in Africa cannot be overlooked. However, there is a growing body of evidence of donors funding programmes with little or zero input from the community most impacted by the problem. This form of donor relation with implementing partners often manifests as NGOs working in the Global South being led by leadership in the Global North.
The consequence hence, is a dependency culture on global North aid, invisibilisation of realities of implementing partners and loss of autonomy and decision-making processes. In the rise of fundamentalism and shrinking of civic space in Africa, there is an urgent need to rethink philanthropy in a way that will truly sustain feminists, decolonial and liberation movements and collectives in Africa.
It is upon these reflections that Liberation Alliance Africa will host the Disrupting Colonial Legacies of Philanthropy in Africa. We are called to interrogate the historical and colonial legacies of Philanthropy.
With the webinar, we aim to respond to the following questions: What are the key representations of colonial legacies of philanthropy and how do they shape the development landscape? In what ways has the deprivation of agency affected the idea and practice of philanthropy in West Africa? In what ways does philanthropy as practised affect epistemic agency? What are the different initiatives, solutions and changes that will support the reimagination of a people-centred philanthropic landscape?
Date: Friday 27th October, 2023
Time: 2 PM WAT | 4 PM EAT | 9 AM EST
Register here
Language: English
