Here at TrustAfrica we are privileged to consider ourselves embedded partners who are unashamedly passionate and active in the issues we care so much about as a foundation. We  are encouraged to harness our pan-Africanism and activism in the work that we do daily. Having our activism nurtured and at the center of what we do in the workplace adds to the DNA of TrustAfrica being a philanthropic foundation that acts in solidarity with communities and proximate actors across the African continent. We seek to accompany those grassroots groups, social movements and organizations who are at the forefront of making breakthroughs for Africa’s progress in democracy and governance, in equitable development and in African Philanthropy. That’s why capacity enhancement is one of our key strategies for accompanying partners on the ground. TrustAfrica takes a bold stance of investing in nascent and unknown organizations, formations and movements across the continent with catalytic grants. These emergent outfits who show great potential often benefit from support in terms of enhancing their capacity in various areas: from organizational development to advocacy skills development, to communications and storytelling skills development, inter alia. We believe that giving a grant is just a first catalytic step in our partnerships with actors on the ground.  We have seen firsthand how the potency of pairing catalytic grantmaking with needs-based capacity enhancement supports grassroots organizations, civil society, media, social movements, public sector and academia to have more outsized impact on their ecosystems. This edition of our newsletter showcases some of the ways that our capacity enhancement strategy plays out across our three program areas. Read more below about the new capacities needed for sustainable activism in our democracy and governance portfolio; capacity enhancement in our fair trade and decent work engagements in the RECLAIM Sustainability! Project and supporting media in understanding and reporting on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) under our Equitable Development portfolio; and how collaborative capacity enhancement has been foundational building a West African Philanthropy Support Ecosystem under our African Philanthropy portfolio.  

At TrustAfrica, we strongly believe that tackling Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) has become, more than ever, a matter of survival for Africa’s development and must be treated with urgency. There is broad consensus that the funds bleeding out of Africa, which amount to over USD 88.3 billion a year, and represent 3.7 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), could be channelled towards the continent’s development if successfully retained. This fight against the IFFs will not be won without the support of journalists, bloggers and media professionals who understand the implications of these outflows on the continent’s developmental trajectory.