About the NEAT Initiative

Nigeria has a pressing need to develop indigenous, sustainable funding mechanisms to support CSOs in the wake of diminishing foreign aid and increasing societal needs. CSOs’ work in improving health, providing education, supporting youth, fighting corruption, and other areas of need are vital to support Government of Nigeria efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and to improve life of all Nigerian citizens. But where could such sustainable CSO funding come from, and how would it be managed? The Nigerian Endowments through Asset Transformation (NEAT) Initiative is pursuing the potential application of a well-documented framework—entitled “Philanthropication through Privatization,” or PtP—whereby assets deriving from the transfer or monetization of public and quasi-public assets are used to endow independent foundations. Nearly 650 cases of foundations endowed by “PtP” style transactions have been documented globally, including some of the largest and most-well known philanthropic institutions in the world.

Luckily, Nigeria has several classes of assets that could be tapped to: a) support the creation and endowment of one or more independent foundations; or b) further support the work of an existing high-performing grant-giving organization or fund. The NEAT Initiative focuses on the following three asset classes—extractives, debt swaps, and repatriated stolen assets.

WHAT IS THE PTP MODEL?

Philanthropication thru Privatization—or “PtP”—is defined as a transaction in which all or a portion of the proceeds resulting from the sale or other transfer of public (i.e., government-owned or -controlled) or quasi-public, assets into for-profit ownership or control are dedicated to the creation or expansion of charitable endowments under the control of meaningfully autonomous private charitable institutions. The PtP Project has identified more than 640 foundations thus far, worth more than US$200 billion, that resulted from government decisions to use resources they controlled to endow new philanthropic organizations. Examples include some of the largest and most reputable foundations in the world—Germany’s Volkswagen Foundation, Italy’s foundations of banking origin, New Zealand’s network of “community trusts,” Belgium’s King Baudouin Foundation, the BOTA Foundation in Kazakhstan, Mozambique Community Development Foundation, Japan’s Nippon Foundation, the huge “la Caixa” Banking Foundation in Spain, and close to 200 health conversion foundations in the U.S. were all established through a PtP-style transaction. Many of these foundations emerged from privatization deals, while others were resourced with proceeds of royalties or concessions (e.g., King Baudouin Foundation), recovered stolen assets (e.g., BOTA Foundation), government-imposed penalties (e.g., Brazil’s Renova Foundation); debt swaps (e.g., the Mozambique Foundation for Community Development), bio-diversity deals (e.g., Kahati Foundation Indonesia), and extractive related agreements (e.g., Ghana’s Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation).

Whatever their source of capital, a PtP approach offers a way to ensure that a nation’s people directly benefit from large transactions or arrangements between the Government and external parties that entail public resources or assets.^[1] More broadly, well-endowed and run foundations offer the advantages of being able to respond quickly, flexibly, pluralistically, and innovatively to development challenges, ensuring that the affected communities are aware of and involved in the interventions designed to impact them, and can be held accountable by their stakeholders in ways that government funds and budgets cannot. Fundamentally, the foundation model can both increase public trust in how resources gained from extractive deals or returned corruption assets are used, and—as independent entities able to raise funds, can provide options for wealthy parties in Nigeria to invest in or replicate.

In addition, the PtP concept emphasizes the need for community and stakeholder input into the mission, focus, activities, and structure of any foundation or institution resulting from a PtP-style transaction. It also encourages a clear connection between the asset being captured—and any ills brought about by the activities underlying it—and the work carried out by the resulting foundation. The NEAT Initiative will follow this guidance.

NEAT INITIATIVE PARTNERS

The NEAT Initiative carries forward a collaboration between the Nigeria-based Africa Network for Environment & Economic Justice (ANEEJ) and the U.S.-based East-West Management Institute (EWMI). Work on the ground in Nigeria—including outreach, validation, and advocacy with government representatives and agencies—will be led by the expert staff at ANEEJ, with technical and managerial support—including advising on design of any resulting transactions and foundation, research support, communications support, and financial and overall program management—provided by EWMI.

Africa Network for Environment & Economic Justice (ANEEJ). The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) is a non-government organization whose goal is to amplify the voice of the weak, the less privileged and the marginalized groups in the society including women, youths, and People Living With Disabilities in order to increase their participation in the democratic decision-making process. As its basis, ANEEJ believes in a democratic system for managing human interest and operates within two broad focal areas namely environmental and economic justice. Specifically, ANEEJ implements projects relating to governance and democracy, human rights (including migration and development issues), anti-corruption, peace building and conflict resolution, development effectiveness, environment including water, sanitation, and hygiene among others. Since 1997, ANEEJ has championed the call for stoppage of illicit financial flows from Nigeria and other developing countries to the secrecy jurisdictions in western countries. It has in same vein championed the campaign for the repatriation of looted assets of Nigeria stashed in Western banks and was active in calling for a UN instrument against corruption, money laundering, and illicit financial flows. In April 2016, the UNCAC Coalition Coordination Committee (CCC) approved ANEEJ’s application to become an ordinary member of the new Association: UNCAC Coalition.

ANEEJ worked with over 100 civil society organizations while hosting the Secretariat of the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Campaign, Nigeria from 2004-2008 and the Nigerian Network on Stolen Assets. The organization also coordinated CSOs that were involved in monitoring repatriated Late General Sani Abacha loot under the Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR), a tripartite agreement between the World Bank, Civil Society and Nigerian governments. ANEEJ has successfully managed projects funded by donors including USAID, DFID/British Council (including J4A and FOSTER), OSIWA, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Canadian and Swiss Embassies, Heinrich Boll Foundation, Global Green Grant, Action Aid, and EED (Now Bread for the World), among others.

In addition to their on-going work in relation to the three identified asset classes, ANEEJ has been involved in the initial PtP exploratory work in Nigeria since 2019, including direct outreach, research, and coalition building.

East-West Management Institute (EWMI). Founded in 1988, the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening civil society, economic and legal reform globally and a worldwide leader in rule of law promotion and civil society development. EWMI’s success is based on over 30 years of field experience in over 30 countries, including implementation of numerous programs throughout Southeast Asia, as well as in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.

EWMI works to strengthen democratic systems, emphasizing the importance of bringing together government, civil society, and the private sector to solve problems. With funding from USAID, the U.S. Department of State, U.K. DfID, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, and various private foundations, EWMI has developed justice sector institutions in emerging democracies that are accountable, capable, and transparent; has played an instrumental role in building sustainable civil society institutions that advocate for their citizens, in promoting governmental responsiveness, and in assisting governments with privatization; and has pioneered efforts in developing countries to monitor and encourage corporate social responsibility. EWMI concentrates on developing and leaving local institutions that are accountable, capable, and transparent, and thus able to constructively fulfill their mandate long after donors depart.

In cooperation with the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, EWMI launched the PtP Project calling attention to a third route to the development of private, endowed foundations and encouraging implementation of this strategy in countries around the world in 2014. Following the passing of JHU Center and PtP Project Director Lester M. Salamon in August 2021, the PtP Project continues this work at EWMI. EWMI’s experience in managing complex programs in cooperation with local government counterparts, international donors and local NGOs, and its blend of legal, financial and civil society expertise give it the knowledge, experience, skills and relationships needed to support the implementation of the NEAT Initiative in a strategic and pragmatic way.