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26.06.2017 General News

Research Fellows Call On Civil Society To Mobilise Domestic Resources to Achieve SDGs

By Emelia Aryee
Research Fellows Call On Civil Society To Mobilise Domestic Resources to Achieve SDGs
26.06.2017 LISTEN

A research fellow at the West Africa Civil Society Institute, Mr. Solomon Amoah, has called for the mobilizing of philanthropy at the grass root level by civil society in Africa to drive a successful achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) on the continent.

He decried the rate at which foreign philanthropy has been overly-relied on by civil society in Africa, describing the situation as unsteady, thus the need for a domestic resource mobilization.

Mr. Amoah made this call during a panel discussion in Accra at a West Africa Civil Society Policy Dialogue Series (WAC-PoDis), an initiative by the West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI) that occasionally focuses on bringing on board experts to discuss pressing issues in the sub-region on the African continent as a whole.

The recent dialogue focused on the current context of Philanthropy in Africa, examining local funding sources, challenges and potentials of the civil society sector; with the main idea being to share strategies on how to mobilize requisite funding from Africa achieving the SDGs.

Other panel members included Ms. Pearl Darko, the National Coordinator of SGD Platform, Ghana; Ms. Rikke Sig Hansen, Coordinator of CSO Platform on SDGs, Ghana and Dr. Bhekinkosi Moyo, CEO of Southern African Trust.

Touching on some strategies on mobilizing local resources, Mr. Amoah said there has to be a structural approach to giving because research findings have established that domestic philanthropy has been curtailed due to the current state of unstructured approach, making it difficult for interested persons or organizations to give.

“Civil Society must look at creating an enabling environment for people and organizations to give; it appears some philanthropists at the local level are willing to give but this situation is frustrating,” Mr. Solomon Amoah stressed.

He reiterated that there is the need for data to enhance transparency and accountability in the system, as this would be appealing to philanthropists to come on board giving.

Another strategy, he said, is the investment into understanding that philanthropy is giving and the attitude in the society.

“A lot of education has to be done because there is this misconception that CSOs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) already have great funding....such a mindset needs to be corrected,” the WASCI Research Fellow stated.

Dr. Bhekinkose Moyo, also a research fellow, author and CEO of Southern African Trust, said a reason for lack of domestic funding is because SDGs are not popular in most African countries.

This calls for intensified education and awareness creation in such countries, he said in his presentation.

According to Dr. Moyo, appreciable or more than enough funds are generated in the West African sub-region and on the continent as a whole, which could be accessed to achieve SGDs without necessarily over-relying on foreign philanthropy.

He stated six options of funds generated internally – from Import Levy, Tourism Levy, Financial Transaction Tax, Philanthropy, Regional Lottery and Regional Events.

For example, research finding brought to bear that the amount generated from import levy from non-ECOWAS is $3.3 million per annum on gross basis collected at ECOWAS level; whereas $659 million is obtained from Financial Transaction Tax per annum; and $1.25 billion from Philanthropy per annum.

With the foregoing, Dr. Moyo was of the view that mobilizing domestic resources to achieve SGDs in Africa is achievable and called on civil society to use the right approaches in accessing internally generated funds.

“If you don’t search you won’t get the money and if you don’t get the money you can’t move forward,” he admonished.

Adding her voice to the calls, Ms. Rikke Sig Hansen said there is the need for collaboration, and also getting to know what the needs of people are is imperative in knowing how much to give on the behalf of philanthropists.

Ms. Hansen also called for the change of mindset on SGDs by civil society, imploring the sector to use the right approach in demanding contributed funds for SDGs.

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