Research shows that only a small fraction of international funding for humanitarian and development initiatives in Africa goes to locally-led organizations. The vast majority of funds still goes to their foreign-led counterparts—organizations with easier access to capital, social networks, and the donor-speak that funders prefer. Not only is this unjust; it is also ineffective.  

Local actors use resources and funding more efficiently and sustainably than their foreign-led counterparts. Solomon King, founder of Fundi Bots, a robotics training nonprofit in Uganda, shares that foreign-led organizations fail just as often as African-led organizations—but they fail later since they have more funding. “Risk capital—funding provided to an organization in its early stages—is something donors need to embrace. The impact that funders seek could be greater if they believed in African-led organizations.”