Varied but vulnerable: the non-profit sector in West Africa

The non-profit sector in West Africa is a varied one including groups as diverse as religiously motivated welfare societies, neighbourhood development associations, trade unions, hometown associations, international NGOs, and sport and recreation groups. This diversity notwithstanding, the sector in the region generally remains vulnerable. It is dependent on overseas funding. Its image is frequently unfavourable, both in official circles, where it is often viewed with suspicion, and among the wider public, who see examples of political partisanship and incompetence. Nor, for want of pertinent expertise, has it always been able to capitalize on the opportunities which fledgling democratic regimes have thrown up.

There is no doubting the sector’s diversity in the region. Francophone West Africa counts nine classifications[1] including: Trade Unions, Neighbourhood Development Associations and Groups, Women and Children’s Groups, Artisans, Traders and other Professional Groups, Academic and Research Institutions, Youth, Sports, Folkloric and Dance Groups. A recent study of the non-profit sector in Ghana[2] proposed three main types of organization: Traditional associations and Community-based organizations; Religious and faith-based organizations; Private voluntary organizations or NGOs.

Uncertain democracy

Since the early 1990s, several of the 16 ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries have embarked on democratic forms of governance in response to long-standing pressures. Many of these were at best fragile, and only a few emerging democracies remain. They include Senegal, Ghana, Benin, Mali and Niger. Liberia and Sierra Leone are only now recovering from devastating wars; Cote d’Ivoire is still a volatile case, and Nigeria is going through its first test. The democratic regimes in Guinea, Togo and Burkina Faso have been widely criticized by international development partners and also by large sectors of the local population as desperate attempts by governments to perpetuate their hold on power through the ballot box.

Donors leaving Togo

In fact, in Togo, since the 1993 elections and the return to power of the current government, relations between the country and its key development partners have been lukewarm at best. The European Union has suspended its cooperation with the government, leaving partnership with civil society organizations as the only avenue for development assistance. USAID has also withdrawn its partnership and all its development projects and several other bilateral agencies and key international NGOs have followed suit, leaving Togo with a significant development challenge and a humanitarian near-crisis.

In response to the withdrawals, several civil society organizations, taking advantage of the provisions of ‘la loi 1901’,[3] sprang up to fill the gap created in the delivery of social services. This represented a new opportunity, an increased awareness among non-government stakeholders, and a corresponding increase in the participation of civil society organizations in community development initiatives. Several organizations were created as a portal for receiving donor development resources and applying them for direct community needs.

Unfortunately, the greater majority of these organizations lacked the knowledge and expertise necessary for their new roles. Education levels and analytical skills among CSO staff are limited. The most gifted local NGO staff are often poached by international NGOs, which are able to offer them higher salaries. As most CSOs struggle to survive, they have little time or money to invest in staff capacity. The absence of training in knowledge and skills for their new role has led to serious questions about NGO capacities to deliver services. As a result, the francophone countries have looked for their solution in networks and coalitions. So far, however, they are more thematic groupings than effective lobby groups that are able to influence government policy.

How the sector is seen

Ghana’s 1994 aborted NGO Bill, and the current process leading to the National Policy on a Partnership Framework with NGOs, have tended to divert attention from the fact that attitudes to the sector, both in government circles and among the public at large, remain ambivalent.

Foreign NGO involvement in local CSO coalitions has its downside. While expatriates have demonstrated ability and eloquence in dealing with policymakers, their prominence has often fuelled government suspicions of the sector, with local CSOs sometimes perceived as the pawns of northern NGOs, accountable to the North rather than to the local poor they attempt to represent.

Donor-led approaches have led to several uncoordinated interventions, with minimal programme impact. They have also created a fertile ground for a new order of self-employed individuals within the new non-profit sector, a new nouveau riche that is often not accountable to any properly constituted governance structures. Moreover, they have created a new opportunity for governments and opposition parties to set up NGOs to increase the inflow of donor funds. Granted, this has led to increased community projects, but it has also advanced and promoted their political agenda.

‘Diverse’ but not ‘strong’

Despite the great diversity of civil society organizations, the sector in West Africa is less strong than it appears. Most NGOs struggle with uncertain and irregular income. This is especially so with the local NGOs; their dependency on foreign donors remains almost total, limiting their autonomy and producing a tendency for them to adopt the agenda of funders. While there is clear need for NGOs to take the initiative in seeking sources of sustainable funding, there is also great need and opportunity for funders and international organizations to offer support to local NGOs whose views may not be perfectly in accord with their own, but who can nevertheless operate effectively in their chosen sphere.

Moreover, they should be prepared to speculate. Training needs are of crying importance for the majority of the region’s CSOs, and the closer to communities they are, the more likely this is to be the case. If funders want to contribute to creating a strong non-profit sector in West Africa, they need to be prepared to invest in organizations, not just in projects.

1 These nine classifications come from a Sub-regional Workshop on the Cotonou Protocols, organized by the EU in Cotonou Benin in 2002. These classifications have been adopted by the majority of development actors working with West African civil society groups. These are also the classifications used in Togo, specifically.

2 Lawrence Atingdui (September 1995) Defining the Non-profit Sector: Ghana, Johns Hopkins Comparative Non-profit Sector Project Working Paper 14.

3 This is the French Law of 1901 handed to the French colonies, granting them the Freedom of Association. It is the legislative framework for the establishment and operations of non-profit organizations.

Kofi Awity was Regional Director for Charities Aid Foundation West Africa, now Centre for Development Partnerships. He is currently coordinating the EU-funded €1.5 million PAOSC programme, providing technical assistance in restructuring the civil society sector and building the capacity of civil society actors in Togo towards their effective participation in sustainable development through decentralized participation processes. He can be contacted at info@cdpwa.org