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BLOG
Commentary, opinion, and stories from across the SIVIO network on governance, civic life, and development in Africa.
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Freedom of choice in Rwanda’s presidential elections is an illusion
Opinion Piece originally posted in Mail & Guardian: https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/opinion/2024-07-30-freedom-of-choice-in-rwandas-presidential-elections-is-an-illusion/ Freedom of choice in Rwanda’s presidential elections is an illusion By Nyasha Mcbride Mpani and Tendai Murisa Rwandese once again went to the polls to elect their president, who will lead them for the next five years. As expected by many political analysts, Paul Kagame won with an overwhelming
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South Africa’s Elections Are a Warning Sign for Democracy
Originally posted by Kettering Foundation: https://www.kettering.org/news/south-africas-elections-are-a-warning-sign-for-democracy/ In 1994, the world watched South Africa’s first democratic election, celebrating the victory of Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC). This year, for the first time in three decades, the ANC lost its majority amid growing frustrations with the party’s ability to deliver on its promises. Tendai Murisa warns
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AfricaGiving-More Than Just an App!
Introduction In 2023 we launched what was perhaps one of our biggest initiatives in the African philanthropy landscape; a platform for giving which we called AfricaGiving. Prior to this, we were mostly known for our work on community foundations in Zimbabwe, some studies on high-net-worth giving and our online Ease of Doing Philanthropy Index which
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Embracing Pause for Insightful Futures: A report back from the latest convening.
From the 24th to 26th of June 2024, the Ford Foundation’s Southern Africa office held its first partners meeting since the Covid-19 pandemic. The convening’s theme was Embracing Pause for Insightful Futures. The event was attended by at least 200 participants from the partner organisations in the region. SIVIO Institute was among the partner organisations that attended the meeting with the Executive Director, Dr Murisa, sitting on a panel on the first day’s session. The panel discussed the coalition and
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Corruption Amplifies Social Pathology in Zimbabwe: A Call to Action
Since August 2023, we have been experimenting with the idea of advocacy labs. The big idea was to ensure that we broaden ordinary citizens’ participation in advocacy by training them on a how to run an advoccay campaign. The labs are centred around what citizens had seen as the top priority for the Zimbabwe government
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Fundraising Lessons: The Africa Giving Journey
Mid-April I was tasked with running the 100 for US$100 Africa Giving fundraising campaign. My responsibilities were to get 100 people to give 100 dollars or more to any non-profit listed on our Africa Giving platform. The goal was to raise US$ 10,000 and end the campaign with a beautiful dinner to celebrate African Philanthropy. A pretty straightforward task right? Let me quickly say, it wasn’t that easy, especially because the fundraising had to begin with me and I had a lot to learn. At the start of the 100 for US$100 campaign all staff members were encouraged to donate…
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Africa needs to rethink land tenure model
Originally posted in NewsDay: https://www.newsday.co.zw/agriculture/article/200027550/africa-needs-to-rethink-land-tenure-model Written by Melody Chikono SIVIO Institute executive director Tendai Murisa says Africa needs to urgently re-look at the land tenure system so that countries are not easily manipulated by elite systems in relation to climate change. The call comes as climate change and energy transitions are causing insecurity and instability in
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South Africa elections: the one day for citizens to hold power?
Yesterday the eyes of the continent and the world were on South Africa as citizens went out to cast their votes in the most highly contested elections in the country’s 30 years of democracy. One reporter on the national broadcaster alluded that 29 May 2024 is the one day when citizens would hold “power” because
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Digital inclusion and African startups -has the internet really helped promote access?
In May of 2024, we published a report – An Assessment of Digital and Traditional Financial Inclusion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia. This report was developed alongside an index (The SI-FIndex) measuring and comparing the level of access MSMEs have to financial products and services. When considering digital inclusion, this
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A Night of Fundraising
“Africa’s time, to gather African resources” is the theme that underpinned our Hundred for US$100 Africa Giving campaign. The campaign was focused on identifying 100 individuals and companies that would give US$100 each in support of any of the 108 organisations listed on the Africa Giving platform. To bring the campaign to a close, a
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