Examining Legal Constraints to Giving in Southern Africa
In as much as giving has been part of the African culture for ages, current trends, in as far as philanthropy in Southern Africa is concerned, indicate that not every country has a legal framework that encourages local people to give for the benefit of those less privileged in society. Starting with a hypothesis that a country and a region that has a legal framework that has little red tape when it comes to registration and operation of philanthropy organisations and incentives for those who give is one where philanthropy will thrive, this report summarises the findings from the studies of ten countries from Southern Africa. There have been studies to look at laws in different countries in Southern Africa, but a few have focussed on their impact on philanthropy. Evidence on the ground also indicates that some laws governing the movement of money across borders for reasons such as to curb money laundering may have been hampering cross-border philanthropic flows. Therefore this report assesses the laws in place and provides recommendations that countries can consider implementing in order to promote an enabling environment for philanthropy and ensure the work of philanthropic organisations becomes more impactful.
