Delegates attending the 9th East Africa Philanthropy Conference officially commenced today at the Serena Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, June 11, 2025. Photo/ASMH
Kigali, Rwanda – June 11, 2025 – The 9th East Africa Philanthropy Conference officially commenced today at the Serena Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, bringing together over 500 distinguished leaders, visionaries, and changemakers from across and beyond East Africa.
Under the compelling theme, “Agile Philanthropy: Adapting to Economic, Social, and Political Shifts,” the gathering, hosted annually by the East Africa Philanthropy Network (EAPN), is set to be an opportune space for critical dialogue, strategic collaboration, and bold action to shape the future of philanthropy in an increasingly unpredictable global landscape. The conference will end on June 13.
The world of philanthropy is currently navigating an age of unprecedented unpredictability. The foundational assumptions that once anchored the sector – reliable donor commitments, stable global economies, and linear development trajectories – are rapidly dissolving.
This profound shift, driven by economic precarity, geopolitical realignments, and evolving societal expectations, necessitates an agile, responsive, and action-driven philanthropic ecosystem.
The ability to adapt to these shifting dynamics while ensuring sustained, high-impact, and locally anchored solutions has emerged as the defining challenge for modern philanthropy.
Traditional donor commitments are notably contracting as Western governments increasingly prioritize domestic stability, leaving a significant funding vacuum.
This situation compels philanthropy to reimagine financial sustainability beyond its historical reliance on aid.
Simultaneously, rising inflation, economic volatility, and cost-of-living crises are reshaping donor behavior, pushing philanthropic actors to prioritize short-term, high-impact interventions over long-term systemic solutions.
New models like corporate giving, venture philanthropy, and blended finance are increasingly supplementing traditional grant-making, with companies aligning social investments with business sustainability.
Beyond financial shifts, digitalization is revolutionizing philanthropic practices, introducing AI-driven analytics, blockchain-based transparency, and decentralized giving platforms to optimize resource allocation and enhance impact assessment.
However, these innovations also bring ethical and structural challenges, such as digital exclusion and algorithmic biases, which require deliberate action to ensure equitable access to philanthropic resources.
The philanthropic ecosystem is also grappling with heightened political and social complexities, as governments tighten regulations on foreign-funded initiatives and restrict cross-border funding, forcing organizations to adapt to new compliance frameworks while safeguarding operational autonomy.
Social expectations are also shifting, with grassroots movements and younger generations demanding localized, trust-based, and participatory grant-making models that prioritize community-led solutions.
The conference aims to critically assess the impact of these global economic shifts, political realignments, and evolving societal expectations on philanthropy’s sustainability and effectiveness.
It seeks to strengthen multi-sectoral collaboration between philanthropy, government, business, academia, and civil society to enhance systemic change.
Furthermore, it will interrogate philanthropy’s role in navigating regulatory and policy landscapes, advance innovative financial models, reimagine governance structures for locally-led funding, examine the intersection of technology and AI, and ultimately position philanthropy as an agile, anticipatory force for systems-level change.
The diverse attendance of over 500 participants underscores the conference’s significance. The attendees include foundation and trust executives, government representatives, community philanthropy organizations, academia, impact investors, and philanthropy support networks, fostering a rich environment for cross-sector engagement.
The conference kicked off with pre-conference activities a day earlier including a Masterclass and an Opening Reception.
The “Building New Financing Models for African Social Impact” masterclass, curated by EAPN, The Resource Alliance, TrustAfrica, and Urgent Action Fund-Africa’s Harambee Ubuntu PAFP initiative, aimed to ignite bold thinking and co-create financing models rooted in justice, solidarity, and sustainability.
The Masterclass emphasized the need to think beyond silos, fostering African collaborations grounded in shared responsibility, collective care, and abundance, to develop collaborative, long-term, flexible, innovative, and community-rooted financing solutions.
The opening reception provided a vital space for informal engagement and cross-sector introductions, fostering familiarity and early rapport among participants before the intense working sessions.
