African NGOs: The New Compradors?

Abstract

In the course of the last twenty-five years, Africa has witnessed an astounding growth in the number and influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in general, and more recently of African NGOs in particular. Initially, the literature on this was dominated by the concerns of the policy-making and NGO communities, drawing on liberal pluralist theory. Lately, an independent, critical literature has developed based on substantial empirical research.

A postcolonial and anti-colonial reading of ‘African’ leadership and management in organization studies: tensions, contradictions and possibilities

“…Dia's call among other factors contributed to the rise of a number of non-governmental local agencies. Instead of representing a decolonizing project, these NGOS primarily funded by official aid agencies and multilateral funding giants like the World Bank, have largely become the new compradors-continuing the work of their precursors (Hearn, 2007). Thus, the so-called 'Africanization' of NGOs in the 1990s can be viewed as an extension of the colonial project.…”

The Pentecostal Ethic and the Spirit of Development

“…In 1995 there were almost 29,000 international development NGOs in existence, with an estimated US$5 billion in aid channelled through the NGO sector, and nearly US$3.5 billion going to NGOs in Africa. This represents just under one fifth of the total aid to the continent (Chege 1999, Hearn 2007). …”

Pastoralism and Socio-technological Transformations in Northern Benin

“…Why are the highest Fulani leaders personally present in Gogounou, yet Togo and Ghana have become the safest destinations for their people? Are we in the presence of "gatekeepers" who use their communities as commodities traded with an international industry of civil society (Igoe, 2003), or, are we in the presence of "new compradors" who derive their resources and positions from the international bourgeoisie (Hearn, 2007); or are we in the face of activists who were not necessarily guided by a priori interests, but who "position and reposition themselves in the face of changing opportunities, challenges and experiences" (Hodgson, 2011)? My ethnographic study within pastoralist associations in northern Benin was a way to better understand how pastoral "civil society organizations" represent and struggle on behalf of local pastoralists, and the impacts of their struggles and actions on their local constituents. Here, I argue that many Fulani elites, who specialize in the identity struggle to defend the rights of pastoralists, have become professional development brokers without being able to solve the main issues of the pastoralists.…”