Author: info

Findings from a Scoping Study on Mapping African Philanthropic Foundations in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Research Reports.

African philanthropic foundations play important roles in the development of the continent. However, our understanding of the African philanthropic foundation landscape in the philanthropic literature has been particularly limited. Drawing on a survey with philanthropic foundations in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria, this report finds that independent foundations are the dominant type of foundations operating in the three countries. It also highlights that the establishment of philanthropic foundations is a recent phenomenon attributed to the growth in family and individual wealth creation. African philanthropic foundations give towards their own community issues rather than engage in cross-border giving. While there are legal and regulatory frameworks for regulating the activities of non-profit organisations, these frameworks are not specifically targeted at philanthropic foundations. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Johannesburg City Parks And Zoos’ Non-Profit Organisations And Cooperatives Partnership Programmes: A Joint Review

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Research Articles.

This paper is a joint production of the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) and the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI). The study is part of a project called Resilient Urban Communities (RUC), a collaborative African-German project that addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals “sustainable cities and communities” and “quality education” through research and dissemination of knowledge related to the subject areas of “good governance” and “local government”. It encompasses research, networking, and education components. RUC aims to improve urban supply systems and infrastructure for vulnerable groups in deprived local communities and enhance the governance of African megacities. The research program of RUC focuses on social enterprises (SEs) and non-profit organisations (NPOs) as subsidiary social service providers and vehicles for participation and integration that contribute to the resilience of urban communities. JCPZ on the one hand collaborates with CAPSI because of their active role in working with both SEs and NPOs. CAPSI on the other hand collaborates with JCPZ to carry out the research using JCPZ SE and NPO samples. The findings of this study are based on preliminary findings from interviews with JCPZ officials, SEs and NPOs.

Charles Farirayi

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Team Members.

Charles is a seasoned technology leader with over a decade of experience in software delivery, team leadership, business analysis, systems modernisation, artificial intelligence, and cloud technologies. His experience spans telecommunications, fintech, logistics, financial services, insurance, e-health, and e-commerce, where he has led technology programmes in complex, regulated, and fast-moving environments.

At the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), Charles serves as Tech Lead, providing technical leadership across the Centre’s digital transformation and technology-enabled research initiatives. He leads the design and delivery of digital platforms, integrated information systems, data and analytics solutions, digital monitoring and evaluation tools, and artificial intelligence initiatives. His work helps expand access to research, knowledge, and opportunities for young people and organisations across Africa.

As Principal Engineer for the Africa Medical Supplies Platform, under Africa CDC and the African Union, Charles contributed to a major continental platform that supported the delivery of PPE, COVID-19 vaccines, and other critical medical supplies across all 54 African countries, with transaction volumes exceeding US$2 billion. The role deepened his experience in complex programme delivery, cross-border stakeholder coordination, logistics-driven technology systems, cloud platforms, and data-driven innovation.

Charles has also contributed to technology initiatives at Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Econet Wireless, Cassava Technologies, Vaya Technologies, Sasai Remit, and EcoCash. Across these roles, he has focused on mentoring teams, improving delivery performance, advancing artificial intelligence adoption, designing scalable cloud solutions, and building collaborative engineering cultures.

He is an Associate of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa, reflecting his commitment to professional excellence and the advancement of the technology profession.

Tshepo Ismael Lehoko

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Team Members.

Tshepo Ismael Lehoko provides critical operational and administrative support within the Research and Publications Unit at the Centre. In this role, he ensures the smooth execution of the unit’s scholarly research and publishing projects. Tshepo holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the North-West University and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Phumudzo Mufamadi

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Team Members.

Ms Phumudzo Mufamadi is the Programme Manager: Research and Publications, with extensive experience working across Africa, Europe, and Asia in international development, stakeholder engagement, research, and project coordination involving governments, international organisations, businesses and civil society. She holds a Master’s degree in Development Economics from the Centre for Studies and Research on International Development (CERDI) at the University of Clermont Auvergne in France, where she specialised in global health financing for development with a particular focus on Africa. She also holds undergraduate and honours degrees in International Relations from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and has completed several professional short courses in leadership, fundraising, conflict resolution, negotiation, and mediation.

Her professional experience includes work with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where she worked in the Department of Coordinated Resource Mobilization within the Director-General’s Office, which was responsible for WHO’s corporate resource mobilisation. In this role, she contributed to analysing current and potential funding for WHO, while also exploring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and identifying key health priorities relevant to development financing, particularly within the context of developing countries. She has also worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Africa as a programme associate, where her responsibilities included CAADP programme coordination and budgeting activities, policy analysis, and supporting coordination between the Regional Office for Africa, the Pretoria Country Office, and NEPAD. Through the Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development at Humboldt University in Germany, Berlin; she contributed to research and publications on religious actors and ecological sustainability in Southern Africa. She has also worked with the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium and with non-governmental organisations in India, further strengthening her international development and research experience across diverse global contexts.

She has worked on major academic and institutional publishing projects, including African Philanthropy: Philanthropic Responses to COVID-19 and Development Goals in Africa book. She has collaborated with leading international academic publishers, including Edward Elgar Publishing, Springer Nature, and Palgrave Macmillan, where she managed and coordinated book and research publication projects. Among other initiatives, she is currently managing two major book projects at CAPSI focused on Muslim philanthropy in Africa and Christian philanthropy in Africa, contributing to advancing African knowledge production and scholarship on philanthropy, religion, and development. Her research interests include global health, faith-based philanthropy, ecological sustainability, and international development.

Dr Shaibu Salifu

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Uncategorised.

Dr Shaibu Salifu is a Ghanaian scholar and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand. His research sits at the intersection of philanthropy, labour economics, and women’s economic empowerment, with a sustained focus on financial inclusion, female labour force participation, and policy design in emerging African economies.

He completed his PhD in Management at Wits Business School in 2025. His doctoral thesis, Essays on Philanthropy and Women Economic Empowerment in Ghana, adopted a mixed-methods approach to examine how philanthropic interventions shape women’s access to financial resources and participation in labour markets. His work contributes to ongoing debates on the feminisation of labour, social investment, and the institutional role of philanthropy in development.

Dr Salifu has received several competitive awards and research grants. He was named runner-up for the Dino Petrarolo Emerging Economies Doctoral Dissertation Award for the Africa and Middle East Region (2025). He was also selected as a Visiting Doctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford, one of seven fellows chosen globally and the only fellow affiliated with an African university in that cohort. His research has been further supported by CAPSI research grants, the Bradlow Research Funding award, and the Wits Postgraduate Merit Award.

His scholarly output includes peer-reviewed publications on philanthropy and female labour force participation, corporate foundations and financial inclusion among women in Ghana, and corporate social responsibility and brand outcomes in the telecommunications sector. He has presented his research at leading international forums, including the International Society for Third-Sector Research conferences and African philanthropy platforms.

Beyond journal publications, Dr Salifu is currently co-editing two major book projects: Convergence of Venture Capital, Philanthropy, and Social Innovation: New Avenues for Africa’s Development, which explores hybrid financing and innovation ecosystems across the continent, and Christianity and Philanthropy in Africa, which examines faith-based giving traditions, institutions, and development trajectories. These projects aim to deepen theoretical and empirical engagement with African philanthropy in comparative perspective.

He is also leading independent research projects on the prevalence of drug abuse and crime in South Africa, examining the potential role of philanthropic actors in prevention and rehabilitation, as well as ongoing work on illegal mining and its socioeconomic consequences. These projects reflect his broader commitment to linking philanthropy, public policy, and pressing social challenges.

Before entering academia full-time, Dr Salifu held leadership and teaching roles in Ghana and South Africa, including lecturing in business management, marketing, and human resource management, and serving in the financial services sector. His interdisciplinary training and professional experience inform his applied research orientation and engagement with policymakers, practitioners, and civil society actors.

At CAPSI, he continues to advance research, supervision, and policy engagement on African philanthropy and inclusive development.

Dr Wycliffe Nduga Ouma

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Team Members.

Dr Wycliffe Nduga Ouma is a financial economist and researcher with over a decade of experience in finance-related research, including financial economics, monetary policy analysis, exchange rate dynamics, capital markets, ESG, sustainable finance and development finance. He is based at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment at Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand. His current work extends this finance and policy research background into African philanthropy, non-profit sector economics, youth employment and social investment. He serves as East Africa Regional Research Lead for the CAPSI Youth Project and as Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator for the wider 17-country project, where he supports research coordination, data harmonisation, evidence synthesis, quality assurance, partner engagement and institutional learning across multi-country research systems.

His teaching approach is research-led, evidence-driven and practice-oriented. He integrates empirical analysis, African institutional realities and applied financial reasoning to support students in developing rigorous analytical skills for research, policy and practice. Dr Ouma also plays a leading academic role in the African Philanthropy Conference, where he contributes to intellectual framing, research agenda-setting, programme development and scholarly engagement on African-centred knowledge production in philanthropy and social investment. He is also involved as a technical lead in ongoing work to develop an African philanthropy measurement infrastructure, including index-oriented tools to strengthen evidence, comparability, and field-level analysis. Before joining Wits Business School, he worked as a Research Associate at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies under the Central Bank of Kenya, where his work focused on exchange rate movements, monetary policy, balance-of-payments dynamics, and macroeconomic stability.

Ntando Hoza

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Team Members.

Ntando Hoza is a Digital Communications Specialist for CAPSI at Wits University, using digital strategy to amplify research, philanthropy, and social investment across Africa and beyond. He holds a Master of Commerce in Marketing from the University of the Witwatersrand and is a member of The Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA). Currently serving at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at Wits, Ntando leads content creation, manages digital platforms, supports event communications, and drives stakeholder engagement across CAPSI’s online presence. His work focuses on translating complex ideas and institutional work into accessible, engaging, and impactful digital storytelling. His multidisciplinary academic and professional background spans Marketing, Information Systems, Customer Experience, AI Technology, Business Sciences, Communications, Procurement, Quality Management, and Business Operations. Prior to CAPSI, he supported the Quality Management division at BMW Group South Africa’s Rosslyn Plant, where he worked on digital systems, intranet content management, quality defect analysis, and ISO standards implementation. Ntando is passionate about using emerging technologies, particularly AI, to strengthen communication, improve systems, and drive meaningful engagement across sectors.

Thandeka Mfeka-Maphula

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Team Members.

Thandeka Mfeka-Maphula is a strategic academic leader and development professional currently serving as Program Manager: Academic Programs at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment within Wits Business School. She holds a master’s in business leadership (MBL) and is passionate about leadership development, African philanthropy, social impact, and women’s empowerment.

With a strong background in academic program management and research, she combines strategic thinking with a commitment to transformation, inclusive leadership, and capacity building across higher education and social investment sectors. Thandeka is currently pursuing a PhD a focused-on Women, Social Philanthropy and Human Development, she continues to contribute to thought leadership and sustainable development initiatives in South Africa and beyond through her coaching and mentorship initiatives as a member of Coaching and Mentorship South Africa (COMENSA), Girlpreneur Academy Africa and International Women’s Forum South Africa Alumni (IWFSA) under the #1000Stronger Campaign.

Prof Alan Fowler

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Team Members.

Alan Fowler is a pracademic. After many years in nonprofit development practice and academic appointments in latter life, he was invited to be founding chair of the first academic centre on the continent teaching, researching and promoting African philanthropy and social investment. Locating the centre in the Business School was to ensure a practical application of new productive knowledge for society . Since then, the leadership of the centre has done the hard work of making the centre’s landmark presence in this African grounded field of study, practice and human capital. The combination of a DPhil and some fifty plus years of living in various countries on the continent continues to inspire my grounded approach to studying Africa as the source of human gifting and organised philanthropy found across the world.

Melody Mandevere

Written by info on July 17, 2026. Posted in Research Associates.

Dr Melody Mandevere is an accomplished academic, researcher, and lecturer at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at Wits Business School (WBS). She holds a doctorate in Management from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. At CAPSI, Dr. Mandevere plays a pivotal role in advancing research on philanthropy and social investment within the African context. Her work critically examines how corporate and individual giving, social entrepreneurship, and strategic investments contribute to sustainable development across the continent. She brings a wealth of expertise in business management, administration, personnel management, and corporate social responsibility/investment (CSR/I), with a focus on the transformative potential of social investment. With a growing publication record, Dr. Mandevere’s research interests span Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Investment, Social Entrepreneurship, and Philanthropy. Her scholarly contributions provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of social impact initiatives in Africa, influencing both academic discourse and practical applications in the field.