At a dialogue convened by Myriad USA with two major foundations in May 2026, speakers used a striking phrase to describe West and francophone Africa: “philanthropic deserts” (Myriad USA, 2026). RFLD’s 2026 data report, Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa, examines why the region receives so little, and what could change it.
Less than 2% for African-led organisations
The Myriad USA dialogue noted that African-led organisations receive less than 2% of global philanthropic funding, and that most of it is directed to East Africa. Within a continent that is already underfunded, West Africa and the francophone countries in particular receive the smallest share.
The Oak Foundation’s review of philanthropy for Africa gives a longer view. From 2010 to 2019, only 6% to 14% of global funding for Africa reached African organisations. The share rose to 57% in 2022 and 56% in 2023, mainly because of a few large foundations. Even so, more than 58% of funds intended for Africa still pass through Western intermediaries (Oak Foundation, 2024).
Human rights funding shows a similar pattern. The Human Rights Funders Network found that 27% of human rights funding for sub-Saharan Africa went to organisations based outside the region, and that only 13% of direct grants were flexible (Human Rights Funders Network, 2023).
A language barrier
Language is a practical obstacle. Most calls for proposals, application systems and reporting templates of international funders are in English. A francophone organisation with three staff members, which is the case for most feminist organisations surveyed by Groupe Egaé for AFD (62% have fewer than three paid staff), rarely has someone who can write a competitive proposal in English.
At a dialogue on resourcing feminist movements in francophone West Africa held in April 2025, in which RFLD took part with the African Women’s Development Fund and the Initiative Sankofa d’Afrique de l’Ouest, activists asked funders to include francophone countries in their strategies, to hire francophone staff and board members, to fund interpretation and translation and to invite more francophone speakers to strategic spaces (RFLD, 2025).
Funders who show it can be done
Some funders already work differently. The Urgent Action Fund Africa reviews applications in English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese and Arabic (Urgent Action Fund-Africa, n.d.). The Initiative Sankofa d’Afrique de l’Ouest (ISDAO) directed 55% of its 2023 grants to francophone countries as a deliberate choice (ISDAO, 2024). These examples prove that working in French is a decision a funder can make, with a measurable result.
Wealth that stays elsewhere
African philanthropy could help close the gap. The continent counts more than 177,000 high-net-worth individuals holding about US$1.7 trillion (Oak Foundation, 2024). Most of this wealth, however, is concentrated in five countries: South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco. Together they hold 56% of Africa’s high-net-worth individuals and more than 90% of its billionaires. None of them is francophone West African.
Cross-border philanthropy worldwide reached US$82 billion in 2023, and Africa and the Middle East were among the most widely supported regions, but no specific amount for Africa was published (Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2026).
A gap no one measures
No public dataset measures funding to women’s organisations by language area. RFLD considers this absence a finding in itself. Without data, the francophone gap remains a perception that funders can easily dismiss. The report therefore proposes a research agenda for 2027, including a systematic query of the OECD Creditor Reporting System for the eight countries and a funding survey of feminist organisations using AWID’s indicators, so that results can be compared with global data.
A pooled fund for the region
New pooled funds show what collaborative philanthropy can do. In October 2024, four foundations launched the West Africa Democracy Fund with US$20 million over three years to support democratic transitions in the region (Ford Foundation, 2024). Its focus is democracy, and it shows that funders can commit to the region together. A similar pooled fund for feminist movements in francophone West Africa, managed by regional intermediaries, would respond directly to the gap documented in RFLD’s report. RFLD’s West African Feminist Fund is designed to play this role.
What francophone activists asked for
At the April 2025 dialogue on resourcing feminist movements in francophone West Africa, feminist leaders set out clear demands to funders. They asked them to remove barriers to funding and to experiment with participatory grantmaking. They asked for long-term, multi-year and flexible funding, and for informal groups and individuals to be funded alongside registered organisations. They also asked funders to stop using media visibility and polished written proposals as a measure of an organisation’s worth.
Speakers warned that the lack of money was already leading to the closure of organisations, and that philanthropy would share responsibility if francophone West African feminist movements were allowed to collapse. These demands match the evidence presented in RFLD’s report, and what feminist funds such as AWDF, ISDAO and the Urgent Action Fund Africa already practise.
Key figures
- Under 2%: the share of global philanthropy received by African-led organisations.
- 58%: the share of funds for Africa that still passes through Western intermediaries.
- 55%: the share of ISDAO’s 2023 grants that went to francophone countries.
- 0: the number of francophone West African countries among Africa’s five wealthiest.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s data report Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa: 2026 Data (RFLD/DR/2026/03), published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary of the report, download the English edition or the French edition. Sources cited in this article are listed in full in the report.
