NGOs

Whilst the non-governmental organization (NGO) is today mostly understood in relation to its work and position in developing countries, including sub-Saharan Africa, its history has largely been told from the perspective of Europe and northern America where the sector first emerged. In sub-Saharan Africa, the story of the NGO is intimately bound up with, in the popular telling at least, that of the decline of the post-colonial African state. Initially supportive of state-led development, the small NGO sector (largely external, mostly European and North Americanbased organizations) was transformed in scale and activity in the 1980s, its expansion mirroring the gradual retreat of the state under attack from economic crisis and externally imposed structural reforms. By now consisting of an ever-growing proportion of ‘national’ (African) NGOs of a bewildering array of types, NGOs were once more transformed from service deliverers (replacing the state) into civil society actors (challenging the state) from the 1990s as the good governance agenda, new policy agenda reforms, and focus on poverty reduction strategies once again re-set the balance of power and nature of the relationship between the state and the NGO sector.