To create the Africa we envision, we must curb all manner of inequality that exists in our community, even if these inequalities have been created as a result of our cultural heritage. The inclusion of women should not be regarded as a by-the-way agenda, but as a building block required in the structural development of Africa’s foundation and future. Such an ambitious objective is one that Mary Rusimbi and the team at Women Fund Tanzania are trying to bring to life with every element of creativity and innovation that they uphold.
Women Fund Tanzania is a Tanzanian-based civil society organization that exists to change the narrative of women and girls by supporting their ambitions and initiatives that identify an undivided cause to changing the course of history in their community. As an organization is our undivided priority to ensure that we provide training, incubate talent, and provide every kind of technical support as needed arises. As regards allocating our support, we ensure that 60% is wholly dedicated to the women in the rural community while 40% is allocated to the national level,” Mary eloquently established during her conversation with APN.
How would you describe the state of African Philanthropy as regards challenges and trends, and what is the way forward in rethinking African Philanthropy?
When asked about how she would describe the Philanthropy Sector in Africa, and what challenges and trends she has noticed in the recent past, Mary spoke with absolute knowledge, wisdom, and insight. She was quick to note how she believes there is a lot that needs to be done internally before we can complain about factors that are externally promulgated.
“We are learning to adapt the idea to an African context. We cannot run away from the fact that most philanthropic activities are externally funded, because of this, we find it difficult to cartel programs and initiatives in an African context. Funders give conditions, some of which lead to unAfrican strategies of implementing programs and projects,” Mary inspirationally elaborated. Mary elaborated on funding that centres around the women’s movement as having a short-term face to it, which leads to uneven distribution of worthy programs. On the other hand, state interference and certain regulations put in place are limiting the credibility of philanthropy in most African countries, especially programs targeting women. “As WFT, we are working with a deliberate intention to break the myth that women do not have the capacity to work and deliver with ultimate efficiency. With the projects and ideas we are supporting, it is inevitable to state that we are heading in the right direction,” said Mary.
How can philanthropy encourage innovation at the grassroots?
“As women fund Tanzania, we believe in nurturing the innovation that we find at the grassroots and not taking innovation to the grassroots. This is because we believe society varies in its approach to addressing problems, and hence we cannot take our solutions to the grassroots to change their narrative,” Mary stated with profound reasoning and eloquence. According to Mary, there are brilliant and innovative ideas that originate from the grassroots; however, they lack the ultimate funding. Hence, WFT’s desire is to allocate 60% of their grant support to the rural women.
“We ensure that we contextualize what we do with a local touch for the local people to understand. This means using local languages and procedures they can understand and are familiar with,” Mary stated. Therefore, taking what Mary established, for Philanthropy to be able to encourage innovation at the grassroots, it needs to nurture the innovation already available at the grassroots while supporting the implementation of such innovations. According to Mary, WFT has instituted intermediary organizations that help consolidate a locally established idea into a proposal and create a roadmap of implementation that supports the process of bringing the idea to life.
How is being a member of APN strategic for your work or work being done on the continent?
During our conversation with Mary, she was quick to establish the extent to which APN is working in ensuring that African philanthropy is well represented across the region of Africa, and its approach towards changing the African narrative of philanthropy is one worth supporting. According to Mary, being a member of APN is worth celebrating, especially when, as African civil society organizations, we are trying to promote the importance of collaboration, self-sustainability, and friendly regulations for easier delivery of service.
Is the African Philanthropy Sector changing or evolving on the continent?
“I believe it is, and I believe we are making progress. However, there are many battles that we have to fight, especially taking into consideration some of the red tape we are facing as philanthropists, as I had already established in the first question,” Mary elaborated. From Mary’s emphasis, collaboration is key if we have to improving African philanthropy. “Needing to depend on ourselves, especially in the context of funding, is mandatory if we have to improve African philanthropy on the continent,” Mary stated.
Dependency on external funders, including international NGOs, reinforces a perception that many organizations are disconnected from their roots, have no obvious impact, and have no long-term viability. In a changing development landscape, what are some of the strategies you are exploring for an institution’s sustainability? “It is important that we all, as entities, sit down more often and begin to think of how we are growing to approach the idea of dependency; we need all of us. We need action-oriented ideas that can help us to be able to demonstrate evidence. We need to reach a point where we can say “NO” to this power-based system that comes with funding attached with conditions. It is not fair to look upon African philanthropists as actors who do not have the capacity. The solution to this is a collective voice, because in a globalized world we all need.” Mary stated profoundly without any reservation.