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Chronicle Reporter

HIGHERLIFE Foundation, an organisation founded by Econet founder and executive chairman Dr Strive Masiyiwa and his wife Tsitsi, has been chosen to participate in the newly availed African Philanthropy Forum (APF) Systems Change Programme.

The APF is a network of diverse partners united by their passion and commitment to actualise inclusive and sustainable development in Africa.

Since its incubation by the Global Philanthropy Forum in 2014, APF has reached 1 700 philanthropists, social investors and key stakeholders in 12 countries across Africa, sharing knowledge, facilitating collaborations and amplifying the work of its network.

The programme seeks to empower leaders of change and philanthropists across the continent.

This follows a recognition by the organisation of the need to address systemic problems that have hindered Africa’s potential growth for decades, and accelerate systems change initiatives across the continent.

The systems change program, which began in May, is a pilot project with six initiatives led by system entrepreneurs who are solving problems in multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) areas, such as quality education, decent work and economic growth, good health and wellbeing, clean water and sanitation, and reduced inequality.

Zimbabwe-based Higher Life Foundation is among the six organisations that are participating in the programme.

The others are LEAP Africa, Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corp (MAIIC), Sesame Workshop South Africa, Teach for Nigeria and The END Fund.

The participating organisations will receive support in areas including partner engagement, leadership development, organisational capacity building, communications, policy advocacy, improving operations and developing new ideas.

They will also benefit from access to a ready pool of African philanthropists and other mentors who can help catalyze step-changes in impact.

Mr Jeff Walker, an APF board member, said the programme was a direct response to the need to think differently and come up with solutions to Africa’s problems.

“There is a need to work and change the whole system rather than focus on smaller group activities,” he said.

The program is being funded by Delta Philanthropies, the Walker Family Foundation and the Ford Foundation, and is supported by the C.S. Mott Foundation, Dalberg and Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

“The role of system thinking is to get us out of the trap of thinking about issues as individual parts instead of a whole. The System thinking approach has enabled us to view the world in a broader view, as a series of complex interventions,” said Randy Newcomb, a senior advisor at the Omidyar Group.

Dr Angela Gichaga, the Financing Alliance for Health chief executive officer noted that there was need for collaborative efforts to deal with the continent’s problems.

“No one stakeholder has the full answer. We must see our organisations as the tree and also see the ecosystem as the forest and figure out how to balance the two. As a tree, what is my role and how do I map the other trees in the forest, understand how to leverage their visibility and relationship,” she said.

Stakeholders who were instrumental in the setting up of the systems change programme also discussed the importance of transforming the social change model to the system change model, and focus on sustainability and the importance of data.

“Reliable data is the best way to make informed decisions, it is vital in the decision-making process,” said Tostan International’s chief executive officer, Ms Elena Bonometti.

The speakers also discussed the funding gap which has been made more evident due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, and the need to create a collaborative system, in which long lasting change is achieved.

“The disruption caused by the pandemic has heightened the realities we face as Africans and presents an opportunity for African philanthropists to rise up to the challenge of fixing our very fragile systems,” said APF executive director Mosun Layode.

The African Philanthropy Forum is a strong and vibrant community of partners who through their strategic giving, investments and influence, foster shared prosperity on the African continent.