Dear Members,
The 10th East Africa
Philanthropy Conference, held from 16–20 June 2026 in Addis Ababa under the theme Anchoring Systems in an Era of Transition, marked an important milestone in our collective journey. However, the significance of this conference was not simply that we had convened for the tenth time. It was that we gathered at a moment when many of the assumptions that have sustained our sector for decades are being fundamentally tested.
Across the conference, we confronted difficult but necessary questions. Can our institutions survive continued volatility in international funding? Are we building the governance, leadership and financing systems required to withstand disruption? Who controls resources, determines priorities and defines success? More importantly, are we prepared to move beyond repeated conversations on localisation, sustainability and collaboration towards the institutional changes required to make them real?
My strongest reflection from Addis Ababa is that East Africa is not without capital, ideas or generosity. Our communities, faith institutions, businesses, foundations, diaspora networks and public systems are already contributing significantly to the region’s development. What remains underdeveloped is the infrastructure required to make this capital visible, organise it effectively and connect it with credible institutions, enterprises and community-led solutions.
The conference challenged us to stop looking at Africa’s future as something that must always be financed from elsewhere. It also challenged us to rethink how we position communities. Communities cannot remain viewed only as beneficiaries at the end of a grantmaking process. They are contributors, knowledge holders, decision-makers and co-investors in their own development.
Some of the most effective solutions may not arrive with polished language or imported frameworks. They work because they are rooted in lived experience, trusted relationships and a deep understanding of local realities. Our responsibility is to build systems capable of recognising, trusting and investing in these solutions.
For EAPN, the conference closes one chapter and opens a more demanding one. Our contribution cannot be measured only by the number of people we bring into a room. It must increasingly be measured by the partnerships formed, capital connected, knowledge generated, institutions strengthened, policies influenced and community solutions supported through our platforms.
We are moving towards becoming a more capital-connective, intelligence-led and action-oriented regional infrastructure institution. This means strengthening philanthropic intelligence, building relationships with the owners and stewards of African capital, creating platforms that connect resources with credible opportunities, supporting cross-country collaboration and ensuring that our members have the knowledge, visibility and capabilities required to navigate the transition ahead.
The true measure of the 10th Conference will not be the energy that was felt in Addis Ababa. It will be what becomes possible after we have returned to our institutions. In the months ahead, our priority is to translate the knowledge, tools, relationships and commitments generated through the conference into sustained action.
This will require discipline from EAPN, continued engagement from our members and honest collaboration with our partners. The funding architecture is changing. The expectations placed on philanthropy are changing. Our institutions must change as well.
We can either continue protecting systems that are becoming less relevant to the realities around us, or we can collectively build the systems that East Africa’s future requires.
Sincerely,
Evans Okinyi
CEO – East Africa
Philanthropy Network.
