The politics of government-NGO relations in Africa

Abstract Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), deservedly or not, have gained a reputation as the leading practitioners of rural development in Africa. African governments have responded ambiguously to the presence of these new agencies, on the one hand valuing the economic resources NGOs can raise, but resisting the political pluralization implied by popular development action. This article describes the growth of NGOs in Africa and proposes a framework for analyzing the dynamics of government-NGO relations. By means of examples drawn from Kenya and Zimbabwe, among other African countries, the article illustrates the strategies used by governments to exercise control, and by NGOs to assert autonomy. An argument is made that politics, rather than economics, best explain the contribution of NGOs to development, as well as the attitude of governments toward the burgeoning voluntary sector.

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