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What are the things we are currently not getting to, and can AI help us get there?

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One of the most thought-provoking questions raised during the Altron and Microsoft AI Executive Breakfast, held at the Microsoft South Africa offices in Bryanston on 3 June, was not about automation or cost savings, but about opportunity.

Across organisations, there are important tasks, strategic initiatives, and creative pursuits that often remain unfinished because teams are constrained by time, resources, or competing priorities. The question posed to delegates was simple: What are the things we are currently not getting to, and can AI help us get there?

The half-day executive engagement brought together representatives from higher education, financial services, mining, retail, technology, and the public sector to discuss practical approaches to artificial intelligence (AI), data modernisation, organisational readiness, and digital sovereignty.

The discussions intentionally moved beyond the current AI hype cycle and focused on the organisational, governance, people, and data considerations required for successful AI adoption.

A recurring theme throughout the discussions was that AI should not be viewed solely as a tool for efficiency, but as a mechanism for expanding organisational capacity.

“AI should be seen as a productivity multiplier and an enabler of smarter execution,” said Oswald, Research Associate at Wits Business School. “By automating repetitive processes and reducing manual effort, AI gives teams more time and capacity to focus on strategic, analytical, and creative work.”

The conversation highlighted that many organisations are sitting on significant untapped opportunities. While employees often focus on delivering day-to-day responsibilities, important activities such as analysing large volumes of information, identifying emerging trends, strengthening stakeholder engagement, accelerating research, and supporting innovation initiatives frequently receive less attention than they deserve.

AI presents an opportunity to bridge this gap.

Rather than simply helping employees work faster, AI can help organisations tackle work that has historically remained on the periphery due to capacity constraints. This represented a shift from efficiency-focused thinking toward opportunity-focused thinking.

For organisations such as the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), this perspective is particularly relevant.

“AI gives organisations an opportunity to tackle important work that often remains unattended because of limited time, capacity, or resources,” said Charles Farirayi, Technology Lead at CAPSI, who is currently championing the Centre’s AI strategy. “One area we are not always able to get to fully is turning the rich research, data, and knowledge generated across our programmes into accessible, engaging, and practical formats for broader audiences.”

The discussions further emphasised that successful AI adoption is dependent on strong data foundations. Participants repeatedly returned to one of the event’s central messages: AI does not fix bad data, it accelerates and scales it.

Many organisations continue to grapple with siloed systems, inconsistent data definitions, ungoverned data pipelines, and fragmented information environments. Without addressing these underlying challenges, AI risks amplifying existing problems rather than solving them.

Delegates also explored the concept of AI readiness and what distinguishes AI-ready data from traditional data management approaches. Questions around governance, data quality, organisational culture, and workforce readiness featured prominently throughout the discussions.

The human dimension of AI adoption was equally important. Speakers noted that organisations are currently experiencing varying levels of AI adoption among employees, ranging from enthusiastic experimentation to cautious scepticism and uncertainty about practical applications.

This highlighted the need for structured AI upskilling programmes, clearly defined use cases, AI champions within organisations, and thoughtful change management strategies.

Farirayi noted that the true value of AI emerges when it becomes embedded within everyday workflows.

“Its real value emerges when people begin embedding it into their everyday workflows, not as a shortcut, but as a way to expand their capacity,” he said.

In communications and knowledge-driven environments, AI can assist with drafting reports, summarising complex documents, generating insights from data, supporting multilingual communication, and making information more accessible to diverse audiences. In research-focused organisations, it can help uncover patterns, synthesise findings, and strengthen evidence-based decision-making.

According to Ntando Hoza, Digital Communications Specialist, who attended the executive breakfast on behalf of the Centre, the opportunity lies in how AI complements human expertise rather than replacing it.

“AI does not replace human expertise. Instead, it augments human capacity by reducing the time spent on repetitive or administrative tasks, allowing professionals to focus on higher-value activities such as strategy, relationship building, critical thinking, and innovation,” said Hoza.

The discussions also explored the role of AI in strengthening stakeholder engagement, organisational learning, and knowledge management.

Oswald reflected on the practical applications this could have for institutions such as CAPSI.

“For CAPSI, this can support areas such as capturing insights from events and workshops through automated transcripts, action points, themes, and reports; strengthening continuous stakeholder engagement through personalised updates, knowledge recommendations, and follow-ups; and connecting research more directly to decision-making through evidence synthesis, comparative analysis, and decision-support briefs,” he said.

The final session focused on digital sovereignty and the growing importance of understanding where data resides, how it is governed, and what risks and opportunities emerge within an increasingly AI-driven global environment.

Participants noted that while concerns around sovereignty, cybersecurity, and regulation are legitimate, organisations must ensure they are making informed decisions based on a clear understanding of both the risks and the safeguards already built into many AI technologies.

For CAPSI and similar knowledge institutions, AI presents opportunities not only to improve operational efficiency but also to strengthen how knowledge is generated, shared, and applied.

Farirayi believes this has particular relevance for African knowledge production and accessibility.

“At CAPSI, AI can strengthen research synthesis, improve knowledge access, support regular analysis of large datasets through pattern detection, dashboards, and trend summaries, and make knowledge more accessible across Africa through translation, plain-language summaries, and multilingual content,” he said.

Ultimately, the executive breakfast challenged participants to move beyond viewing AI as simply another technology deployment exercise.

Instead, it encouraged organisations to ask a more strategic question: if AI can free up time, increase capacity, and improve access to knowledge, what important work have we not yet been able to do and what becomes possible once those constraints begin to fall away?

As organisations continue navigating the rapidly evolving AI landscape, the answer to that question may prove far more valuable than any discussion about productivity alone.

“Zimbabwe by Bus” Multimedia Project Launches in Harare, Celebrating the Nation’s Resilience and Mobile Social Spaces

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The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), in collaboration with the Friendship Bench Hub, officially launched the Zimbabwe by Bus multimedia exhibition and publication in Harare on 26 May 2026. 

This innovative project brings together a diverse collection of photographs, drawings, paintings, poems, interviews, and short stories that reflect on the profound role long-distance buses play in the everyday social and cultural life of Zimbabwe. By documenting these journeys, the initiative explores buses not merely as transport systems, but as vital spaces of memory, survival, hope, and community connection.

The project grew from professional connections made during the African Women Writers Circle and Retreat hosted by CAPSI at the Wits Rural Campus earlier this year. Publisher Irene Staunton, who long nurtured the concept of the “bus spirit,” observed that these vehicles represent the quintessentially Zimbabwean traits of resilience, fortitude, and humour. She was joined in this venture by writer and cultural practitioner Isabella “Bella” Matambanadzo, whose father was a pioneer among bus entrepreneurs, further anchoring the project in personal and national history.

The launch event commenced at 5:40 PM with a welcome address by Peta, who introduced the Swiss Ambassador, Stephane Réy. Ambassador Réy formally inaugurated the book and exhibition, highlighting how the project captures the journeys of ordinary people travelling in search of opportunity and family connection. The evening served as a tribute to the interconnected lives of passengers navigating both rural and urban landscapes across the nation.

A central highlight of the evening was the prize-giving ceremony, introduced by Isabella Matambanadzo and Mrs. Paul Matambanadzo. Thandi Makhubele of CAPSI announced the winners across three creative categories. In the short story category, Godess Bvukutwa took first prize for Murphy’s Law, followed by Lindiwe Dhlakama in second for Roadworthy. The photography prizes were awarded to Wonai Haruperi for Sitting King and Tanaka Maxwell Chembezi for Rows are Life. In the painting category, Adonis Phiri secured first prize for In Search of a Better Life, while Powell Matonsongoni earned second for Rwendo.

The collection also features contributions from other talented artists and writers, including Rutendo Goneso Harvey, Tanya Chimweta, photographer George Mahenga, and artist Tafadzwa Kuzanga, CAPSI’s involvement in the project underscores its commitment to supporting African storytelling and cultural knowledge production. The initiative was also made possible through the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Zimbabwe, alongside contributions from renowned authors Katherine Rundell and Lesley Lysaght.

Good news for grassroots organisations as young people in philanthropy from across Africa team up for a grant-making toolkit co-creation lab in Durban

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Young philanthropy practitioners from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and South Africa have gathered in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, for a Community of Practice (CoP) Grant-making Toolkit Co-Creation Lab aimed at strengthening more inclusive, ethical, and community-led approaches to philanthropy and development funding across Africa.

Hosted at The Valley Trust in the Valley of a Thousand Hills from 19–21 May 2026, the initiative brought together practitioners to collaboratively develop a practical grant-making toolkit grounded in Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) principles and shaped by grassroots realities.

The initiative seeks to respond to long-standing challenges within traditional philanthropy systems, including inaccessible grant processes, rigid compliance requirements, donor dependency, language barriers, and limited community participation in decision-making.

Rather than operating as a traditional conference or workshop, the CoP functioned as a collaborative learning and co-creation space where young African practitioners actively shape new approaches to community philanthropy, participatory grant-making, and locally led development.

The initiative is coordinated by SGS Consulting and supported by a growing regional network of philanthropy practitioners, researchers, community organisations, and institutions committed to shifting power and resources closer to communities.

Reflecting on the significance of the initiative, Managing Director of SGS Consulting Shaun Samuels said “The Community of Practice created a powerful space for the young practitioners to rethink how philanthropy engages African communities. Their perspectives brought fresh energy, lived experience and critical insight into building philanthropy that is Afrocentric, community-rooted and accountable, while opening up intergenerational learning between experience and youth-led innovation”

He further noted that young practitioners are increasingly playing a central role in redesigning philanthropy systems on the continent.

“Young practitioners are not here to observe philanthropy systems, they are actively redesigning them through lived experience, collaboration, and community knowledge.”

Research Consultant Shelly Satuku said the strength of the process lies in the collaborative nature of the co-creation approach.

“The strength of this process is that communities, practitioners, and organisations are learning from one another while co-creating practical solutions grounded in real realities,” she said.

Satuku added that honest participation and trust remain central to meaningful co-creation processes.

“Co-creation requires honesty, participation, and trust. The toolkit is becoming stronger because practitioners are challenging existing systems and bringing community voices into the centre of the process.”

Ruth Canesha Chamangwana, Programmes Manager at Mudzi Connect in Malawi, emphasised that community philanthropy extends beyond financial transactions alone.

“Community philanthropy is not only about moving money, it is about strengthening relationships, accountability, trust, and community ownership,” she said.

She further highlighted the importance of involving communities directly in decision-making processes from the beginning.

“If communities are part of the decision-making process from the beginning, the outcomes become more sustainable and meaningful.”

The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at Wits Business School in Johannesburg is also participating in the CoP alongside practitioners and regional partners.

According to Wits University Digital Communications Specialist Ntando Hoza, the initiative represents an important opportunity to strengthen African philanthropy research while contributing to more responsive and community-centered grant-making systems.

“What has stood out throughout the presentations and co-creation process is the need to strengthen ethics, accountability, inclusion, and evidence-based practice within grassroots grant-making systems. Many existing funding models and toolkits have not sufficiently reflected African community realities, lived experiences, or locally grounded research,” said Hoza.

“African philanthropy research is important in helping shape more responsive and contextually relevant frameworks that can influence policy, strengthen community ownership, and improve how philanthropy institutions engage with grassroots organisations across the continent. This toolkit presents an opportunity to bridge research, practice, and community knowledge in a meaningful way.”

Participants spent the three-day process engaging in collaborative design sessions, peer learning activities, role-play exercises, and community immersion visits aimed at testing the accessibility and practicality of the emerging toolkit within real community contexts.

Community visits facilitated by The Valley Trust included engagements with local community-based organisations and grassroots initiatives in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, where participants interacted directly with communities working on local development interventions.

For many practitioners, the field visits reinforced the importance of recognising communities as active agents of development rather than passive beneficiaries.

Daniela Marta Joane from Fundação Micaia based in Mozambique said the experience highlighted the existing strengths already present within communities.

“Communities understand their own needs and already have assets to create local solutions,” she said.

Joane explained that many communities continue responding to challenges using their own knowledge, skills, time, and local resources even without external funding support.

Her reflections aligned closely with broader discussions throughout the CoP around shifting philanthropy systems away from dependency-driven approaches towards locally rooted and community-owned development.

Margaret Maans from South Africa, whose work focuses on community philanthropy, coaching, facilitation, and Asset-Based Community Development, emphasised the importance of recognising communities as experts in their own realities.

“Communities are the experts of their own lives,” she said.

Maans stressed that grant-making systems should focus on long-term empowerment and sustainability.

“Grantmaking should build capacity, not dependency.”

She further highlighted that meaningful inclusion in philanthropy goes beyond representation alone.

“Inclusion is not just presence, it is power.”

From Zambia, David Kapata of the Zambian Governance Foundation reflected on the importance of moving beyond transactional funding relationships.

“Grantmaking should go beyond simply funding projects and instead focus on building genuine, trust-based relationships with communities,” he said.

Kapata noted that the emerging toolkit seeks to strengthen participation, accountability, collaboration, and long-term sustainability within grassroots development processes.

According to Figórcia Furuma from Mozambique, accessibility and simplicity are critical for ensuring meaningful participation in philanthropy systems.

“Simpler and more inclusive processes help organisations and communities to participate better and access support more easily and fairly,” she said.

Furuma further explained that financial support alone is insufficient without collaboration and long-term capacity strengthening.

“Financial support alone is not enough; it is also important to strengthen collaboration and build capacities to ensure long-term impact and continuity of actions.”

From the host institution, Nolwazi Charmaine Xhakaza said the toolkit is already responding to practical barriers experienced by grassroots organisations in KwaZulu-Natal.

“The toolkit responds to practical challenges such as language barriers, accessibility, capacity building, inclusivity, and the need for user-friendly grantmaking processes,” she said.

Xhakaza noted that more than 30 community-based organisations have already participated in ABCD training processes linked to the initiative.

The toolkit development process has now entered its testing and review phase, during which communities, grassroots organisations, researchers, and philanthropy scholars will continue contributing to validating and refining the framework ahead of its anticipated launch in September 2026.

As conversations around decolonising philanthropy and strengthening locally led development continue to grow across Africa, the CoP Grant-making Toolkit Co-Creation Lab is positioning itself as an important contribution towards building philanthropy systems that are Afrocentric, more participatory, accessible, ethical, and grounded in African community realities.

IRPSI – CAPSI 10th Anniversary Special Issue – Call For Papers

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Beyond Charity: African Philanthropy, Social Investment, and the Architecture of Resource-Based Monetary Sovereignty

Guest Editors

Imhotep Paul Alagidede — University of the Witwatersrand/ University of Ghana

Simeon Coleman — Loughborough University

Bheki Moyo — Wits Business School / CAPSI

Keratiloe Mogotsi — Chatham University

Gloria Bob-Milliar — University for Development Studies

Submission Deadline Extended: 31 August 2026   |   Publication: 30 November 2026

I. Editorial Vision

The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) marks a decade of rigorous scholarship at the intersection of wealth, generosity, and African self-determination. This anniversary special issue of the International Review of Philanthropy and Social Investment (IRPSI) does not merely celebrate that decade — it advances beyond it. Guided by CAPSI’s 2025–2027 Strategic Plan, this issue proposes a fundamental reorientation of the field: from the study of charity as a compensatory mechanism for underdevelopment, toward the study of strategic social investment as an instrument of sovereign wealth creation, institutional transformation, and continental economic architecture.

The critical epistemological question this issue poses is one that the philanthropy literature has, until recently, been reluctant to ask: what does genuine African economic sovereignty look like, and what role do philanthropy, social investment, and the mobilisation of domestic resources play in building it? The answers require us to move beyond the donor-recipient paradigm that has long structured discourse on African development finance, and to engage seriously with the new frameworks — institutional, technological, and monetary — through which Africa’s own resources can be retained, circulated, and compounded within the continent.

To that end, this special issue introduces, as a foundational conceptual frame, the emerging architecture of Resource-Based Monetary Systems — a school of thought that re-examines Africa’s vast natural endowments not merely as commodity exports subject to external price-setting, but as potential foundations for domestic liquidity, currency backing, and monetary independence.

The Central Question of this Issue:
How can Africa’s philanthropic, social investment, and resource mobilisation systems be redesigned — institutionally, technologically, and monetarily — to build enduring sovereign wealth rather than managing persistent dependency? And what analytical frameworks, empirical evidence, and policy architectures does that redesign require?

II. Scope and Context: The Decade Ahead

The 2020s have produced a convergence of structural pressures and structural opportunities that make this the decisive decade for African economic agency. External debt burdens, currency fragility, commodity price volatility, and the persistent failure of aid-dependent development models on one hand; the demographic dividend, the digital infrastructure revolution, the emergence of BRICS+ payment architectures, and an unprecedented mobilisation of African high-net-worth capital and diaspora investment on the other. The philanthropy and social investment field sits at the centre of this tension — and this issue invites scholarship that engages it with full empirical and theoretical rigour.

We are particularly interested in work that interrogates the following structural conditions shaping the field in this decade: the growing volume of African domestic philanthropic capital relative to foreign aid flows; the emergence of new financial technologies that enable transparent, fractionable, and trackable social investment at scale; the regulatory evolution of ESG and impact investment frameworks across African jurisdictions; the geopolitical shifts that are creating space for new monetary architectures and intra-African trade settlement systems; and the generational transition in leadership of African civil society, private sector, and public institutions that is reshaping the values, instruments, and ambitions of social investment.

III. Thematic Pillars for Submission

We invite original research articles, critical theoretical contributions, empirical case studies, policy analyses, and interdisciplinary reviews across the following four thematic pillars. Submissions addressing intersections between pillars are especially welcome.

Pillar One

Philanthropy, Strategic Social Investment, and the Architecture of African Capital

  1. Beyond sporadic giving: frameworks for institutionalised, long-term philanthropic capital allocation in African infrastructure, education, and health systems
  2. High-net-worth philanthropy in Africa: motivations, instruments, governance models, and impact measurement at scale
  3. Diaspora remittances and diaspora bonds: reconceptualising diaspora financial flows as structured social investment rather than household transfers
  4. The private sector as development architect: new models of CSR and ESG that centre African agency, reduce conditionality, and align with sovereign development priorities
  5. Foundations, family offices, and institutional philanthropy: the emerging ecosystem of African domestic giving and its governance architecture
  6. Impact investment and blended finance: mobilising private capital for social returns without replicating aid dependency
  7. Evaluation, accountability, and the measurement of social return on investment in African contexts

Pillar Two

Resource-Based Monetary Sovereignty and Wealth Architecture

  1. The Metanomic framework: re-valuing Africa’s mineral, agricultural, and land endowments as foundations for monetary sovereignty and domestic liquidity creation
  2. Gold, minerals, and commodity-backed currencies: historical precedents, contemporary feasibility, and institutional design requirements
  3. Asset tokenisation and distributed ledger technologies: fractionalising resource ownership to broaden domestic participation in resource wealth
  4. Sovereign wealth funds and natural resource revenue management: African models, governance challenges, and the fiscal-monetary interface
  5. The ‘Rich in Resources, Poor in Liquidity’ paradox: analytical frameworks and policy architectures for resolving Africa’s resource-wealth paradox
  6. Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and intra-African trade finance: building the infrastructure of monetary integration
  7. BRICS+ and the post-petrodollar order: implications for African monetary policy, reserve management, and development finance

Pillar Three

Technology, Digital Infrastructure, and the Future of Social Investment

  1. Artificial intelligence and machine learning in philanthropy: ecosystem mapping, beneficiary identification, grant optimisation, and fraud detection
  2. Digital public infrastructure — interoperable payment systems, digital identity, and open data — as the foundation for transparent, accountable social investment at scale
  3. Fintech and mobile money as social investment vehicles: evidence on financial inclusion, household resilience, and community wealth building
  4. Blockchain applications in philanthropy and social investment: smart contracts, transparent fund flows, and donor accountability
  5. The digital transformation of African civil society: platforms, networks, and the organisational architecture of digital-era philanthropy
  6. Data governance and privacy in AI-driven social investment: ethical frameworks for the collection, use, and protection of beneficiary data

Pillar Four

Inclusion, Generational Sovereignty, and the Social Investment Ecosystem

  1. Women-led philanthropy and social investment in Africa: capital mobilisation, investment philosophy, and systemic impact
  2. Youth entrepreneurship and the demographic dividend: investment models that harness Africa’s generational asset rather than treating it as a demographic challenge
  3. Grassroots and community-based giving: from informal rotating savings associations (tontines, susus, chamas) to institutionalised community social investment vehicles
  4. Decolonising the measurement of philanthropic impact: epistemological critique of Western impact frameworks and development of African-grounded evaluation methodologies
  5. Faith-based philanthropy and zakat/tithe mobilisation: the institutional infrastructure and economic scale of religious social investment in Africa
  6. Philanthropy and post-conflict reconstruction: social investment in resilience, reconciliation, and the rebuilding of community capital
  7. Climate and philanthropy: mobilising African philanthropic and social investment capital for climate adaptation, resilience, and a just energy transition; climate finance architectures that centre African agency and prioritise communities on the frontlines of climate risk
  8. Youth, women and philanthropy: the intersection of generational and gendered agency in African social investment; capital pipelines, leadership pathways, and the institutional design of inclusive giving ecosystems
  9. Next Generation Giving: the values, instruments, and institutional vehicles of inter-generational wealth transfer; new donor archetypes across African high-net-worth families, diaspora communities, and digitally-native givers; and the reshaping of family offices, foundations, and giving circles for the decade ahead

IV. Submission Guidelines and Standards

Types of Contribution

We welcome the following contribution types; all subject to double-blind peer review:

  1. Original research articles: 6,000–9,000 words, presenting new empirical findings or original theoretical contributions
  2. Policy analyses: 4,000–6,000 words, providing evidence-based analysis of specific policy instruments, institutional frameworks, or regulatory environments
  3. Critical reviews: 5,000–7,000 words, providing systematic or narrative reviews of a sub-field with an original analytical framework
  4. Case studies: 4,000–6,000 words, documenting and analysing specific initiatives, institutions, or interventions with clear implications for the broader field
  5. Conceptual contributions: 3,000–5,000 words, advancing new theoretical frameworks, definitional clarifications, or methodological proposals

Submission Standards

  1. All submissions must be original, unpublished work not currently under review elsewhere
  2. Manuscripts should follow the IRPSI Author Guidelines available at the submission portal of the journal https://www.irpsi.com/
  3. Abstracts of 200–250 words and five to seven keywords are required for all submissions
  4. Authors should prepare their manuscripts for double-blind review: no identifying information in the main document
  5. Empirical submissions should include full methodological transparency and, where applicable, data availability statements
  6. Interdisciplinary work drawing on economics, sociology, political science, law, and African studies is strongly encouraged

Submission Portal

Submit via the IRPSI Manuscript Management System
https://www.irpsi.com/

Please indicate in your cover letter: IRPSI 10th Anniversary Special Issue

V. Timeline

MilestoneDate
Call for Papers Opens30 April 2026
Submission Deadline Extended31 August 2026
Acknowledgement to AuthorsWithin five working days of submission
Peer Review PeriodAugust – September 2026
Revise and Resubmit DecisionsBy 15 September 2026
Revised Submissions Due1 October 2026
Final Editorial Decisions15 October 2026
Copy-Editing and ProofingOctober – November 2026
PublicationNovember 2026

Authors should note that the guest editors are committed to rigorous but efficient peer review. All manuscripts will receive substantive editorial feedback irrespective of final decision. The guest editors will endeavour to identify reviewers with specific expertise in African philanthropy, social investment, and resource economics, prioritising reviewers from African institutions.

VI. Guest Editorial Team

EditorInstitutional Affiliation and Research Focus
Imhotep Paul Alagidede (Lead Guest Editor)Bank of Ghana Chair in Finance and Economics, Wits Business School / University of Ghana. Research spans African monetary economics, sovereign finance, resource-based development, and applied agro-enterprise. Author of peer-reviewed work on aquaculture infrastructure, urban food systems, and alternative economic architectures for African self-determination.
Simeon Coleman (Co-Guest Editor)Loughborough University, School of Business and Economics. Research specialisation in financial econometrics, African financial markets, and the political economy of development finance. Extensive publication record on aid effectiveness, capital flows, and financial sector development in sub-Saharan Africa.
Bheki Moyo (Co-Guest Editor)Wits Business School, Founding Director of the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI). Leading scholar of African philanthropy, social investment, and institutional giving, with extensive research and practice at the interface of policy, capital, and civil society across the continent.
Keratiloe Mogotsi (Co-Guest Editor)Chatham University / Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI). Research and practice focus on African women in philanthropy, institutional giving, and the governance of social investment ecosystems, with particular interest in inclusive capital architectures and evidence-based programme design.
Gloria Bob-Milliar (Co-Guest Editor)University for Development Studies. Research and teaching interests span youth, gender, and civil society in Africa, with particular emphasis on next-generation giving, grassroots mobilisation, and the social and political economy of African development. Brings a community-grounded analytical lens to questions of inclusion, voice, and institutional change.

VII. A Note from the Guest Editors

Ten years ago, the founding editors of IRPSI asked what it would mean to take African philanthropy seriously as a field of scholarship. The answers that decade produced — rigorous, empirically grounded, institutionally engaged — have changed the conversation. This anniversary issue asks the next question: what does it mean to take African economic sovereignty seriously? Not as aspiration, but as architecture. Not as a critique of what has failed, but as a specification of what must be built.

We invite scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and institutional actors from across the continent and the diaspora to contribute to this conversation. The quality of the work this issue produces will be measured not only by its methodological rigour — though that is non-negotiable — but by its willingness to ask questions that have not yet been fully posed, and to propose architectures that have not yet been fully imagined.

Africa does not lack resources. It does not lack knowledge. It does not lack the will to chart its own course. What it requires — and what this issue is designed to provide — is the intellectual architecture to do so with precision, evidence, and sovereign confidence.

Imhotep Paul Alagidede | Simeon Coleman | Bheki Moyo | Keratiloe Mogotsi | Gloria Bob-Milliar
Guest Editors, IRPSI 10th Anniversary Special Issue

A decade of advancing African philanthropy: CAPSI marks 10 years of continental involvement

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At a time when Africa’s development trajectory is being reshaped by its rapidly growing youth population, rising inequality, and shifting global funding landscapes, the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), based at Wits Business School (WBS), marks its 10-year anniversary in 2026, celebrating a decade of advancing African-led knowledge, leadership, and practice in philanthropy and social investment.

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First Quarter Newsletter 2026

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From a landmark validation workshop in Dakar to grassroots initiatives in rural communities, this period has reaffirmed the importance of collaboration, evidence-based research, and a shared commitment to African-led development. Across all our work, a common thread remains clear: translating knowledge into action and building meaningful partnerships across the continent.

We extend our sincere thanks to you all, our colleagues, partners, and stakeholders, for your continued support, and wish you a restful and rewarding next quarter of the year.

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Major Continental Study on Nonprofit Sector’s Role in Youth Employment Under Validation in Dakar

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Contributions of the Nonprofit Sector to African Economies: Research Findings Validation Workshop

The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, is convening a Validation Workshop in Dakar to consider findings from a continental initiative that seeks to advance the understanding of the contribution of the non-profit sector towards creating access to dignified and fulfilling work for young Africans. The workshop comes at a critical time as African countries continue to grapple with persistent youth unemployment, inequality and limited access to sustainable livelihood opportunities.

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It is always good when we come together for a good cause: CAPSI at Wits teams up with youth-led foundations to donate shoes in rural schools

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Eswatini and Mpumalanga schools receive a number of shoes for those in need.

The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at the University of the Witwatersrand partnered with Isibani sikaNkulunkulu NPC, The Good Cause Foundation, Makhosazana Foundation and the South African Youth Business Chamber to deliver school shoes and dignity packs to learners in rural communities.

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Transforming Philanthropy in Africa: Insights from Binaifer Nowrojee’s Lecture

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On 11 March 2025, Binaifer Nowrojee, President of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), delivered a powerful lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Hosted by the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), the lecture and high-level panel explored the potential of philanthropy in addressing Africa’s systemic challenges in a sustainable manner, in light of pressing global challenges. The high-level panel discussion hosted distinguished speakers Binaifer Nowrojee (following her lecture), H.E. Mrs. Graça Machel, founder and chairperson of the Graça Machel Trust, and Dr Naledi Pandor, chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and was moderated by Nicolette Naylor.

With an audience of 300 in-person and 350 online, Binaifer opened her lecture by reflecting on the pressing challenges facing Africa and the world today, including climate change, rising inequality, and democratic backsliding. She described these as “interlocking systemic failures” that require new ways of thinking and acting.

“We have climate change, we have rising inequality, we have doubts about democracy, we have eroding trust in institutions. And they’re not isolated crises—they’re interlocking systemic failures. If we’re going to solve them, we’re going to need new ways of thinking and acting—all of us.”

Binaifer Nowrojee

Her remarks emphasised that philanthropy must evolve beyond its traditional frameworks to address these challenges holistically. She questioned whether institutional philanthropy, often tied to systems that perpetuate inequality, can truly be a force for justice without undergoing significant transformation. A key theme of Binaifer’s lecture was the need to decolonise philanthropy by shifting power dynamics and empowering local communities. She highlighted Africa’s rich tradition of communal giving, rooted in the philosophy of Ubuntu, as a model for rethinking global philanthropy.

Binaifer called for a shift from donor-driven interventions to locally led solutions that prioritise sustainability and self-reliance. She argued that philanthropy must move beyond funding individual projects to nurturing ecosystems of collaboration and mutual support.

The lecture was followed by an engaging panel discussion moderated by Nicolette Naylor where H.E. Mrs Machel emphasised the importance of solidarity in addressing Africa’s challenges:

“We must confront the structural challenges that loom ahead of us. Solidarity alone is not enough—we need to build systems that empower communities to lead their own development.”

H.E. Mrs. Graça Machel

Dr. Naledi Pandor echoed this sentiment, advocating for strengthened democratic institutions and community-driven solutions as essential components of sustainable development. The panel reinforced Binaifer’s call for grassroots leadership and collaboration across sectors to address systemic issues effectively.

In conclusion, Binaifer articulated a bold vision for philanthropy—one grounded in equity, sustainability, and collective responsibility. She urged funders to embrace humility and amplify the voices of those most affected by systemic crises, adding, “We are not here to save anyone,” she stated. “We are a humble partner and an ally in the work of justice.”

This event served as both a call to action and an inspiring reminder of philanthropy’s potential to drive meaningful change when grounded in local realities and partnerships. As Africa continues its journey toward self-determined development, this lecture underscored the importance of rethinking traditional models and embracing innovative approaches that prioritise justice and empowerment. For students, researchers, practitioners and policymakers alike, this gathering offered valuable insights into how philanthropy can evolve to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world, one which places African development at its heart.