NGO`s and Their Quest for Legitimacy in Africa | ISS Africa

This briefing by the Institute for Security Studies examines the rise of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Africa, their role in filling service gaps left by weak states, and the resulting political tensions between these organisations and African governments.

• The rapid expansion of NGOs in the early 1980s reflected a shift in development theory, moving away from the belief that the state was the primary driver of development due to the African state's perceived lack of transparency and accountability.
• NGOs entered the African development landscape by providing essential services—such as education, health care, and agricultural credit—that states were unable to provide, and by offering humanitarian relief following famines, droughts, and civil strife.
• NGOs have established significant partnerships with international multilateral and intergovernmental agencies, including the World Bank and various United Nations agencies such as UNICEF, UNDP, and UNEP, as well as national agencies like USAID.
• The increasing capacity of NGOs has led to conflict with African governments, who view them as political challengers that threaten state autonomy, legitimacy, and territorial hegemony, particularly when NGOs challenge state policies on political reform or aid administration.
• Several African governments have implemented restrictive legislation to control NGOs; for example, Kenya enacted the NGO Coordination Act of 1990, and Uganda placed NGOs under its internal security secretariat in 1989 and banned their use of radios for cross-country communication in 1987.
• While NGOs may offer a development alternative and possess comparative advantages over the public sector, they cannot serve as a total substitute for the state in providing essential infrastructure, welfare services, primary health care, and basic education.

APA

Tadesse, D. (n.d.). NGO`s and Their Quest for Legitimacy in Africa | ISS Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ngos-and-their-quest-for-legitimacy-in-africa

Chicago

Tadesse, Debay. NGO`s and Their Quest for Legitimacy in Africa | ISS Africa. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ngos-and-their-quest-for-legitimacy-in-africa.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tadesse |first1=Debay |title=NGO`s and Their Quest for Legitimacy in Africa | ISS Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ngos-and-their-quest-for-legitimacy-in-africa |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tadessendngos, author = {Tadesse, Debay}, title = {{NGO`s and Their Quest for Legitimacy in Africa | ISS Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ngos-and-their-quest-for-legitimacy-in-africa}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }