The 2023 Ghana philanthropy conference in Accra called for the inclusion of a framework to help promote philanthropy’s role in sustainable development within the West African nation.  

The two-day conference, taking place between November 21-22, looked to promote social change and inclusivity. Star Ghana Foundation (SGF) in partnership with Ghana Philanthropy Forum and Africa Philanthropy Network helped to organise the event. 

Leaders within Ghana’s philanthropic space discussed issues under the conference theme; ‘Philanthropy for sustainable development: Opportunities, challenges and the future’.  

Executive director of the STAR-Ghana Foundation, Alhaji Amidu Ibrahim Tanko, said the conference helped to discover philanthropy could move beyond a crisis response to recovery and focus on long-term development. 

“It will also help us to move from seeing communities in the geographic sense and move them to the centre of our compositions and actions around philanthropy, involving them as active and conscious participants in the whole enterprise, and to move towards philanthropy that addresses the underlying causes of poverty and exclusion,” he said.  

The Executive Director of African Philanthropy Network, Dr Stigmata Tenga said using private resources for social good was an important investment in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).  

She said that was the only way to ensure development from the local level to the national. 

“Philanthropy when practiced under the values of African culture is a key strategy for development. There are so many forms of philanthropy that need to be validated and accepted as they are, or moulded to become part of what is happening today on the continent, but that is key to achieving our long-term sustainability,” she added. 

Shafi Musaddique is the news editor at Alliance magazine