ABSTRACT
This chapter applies an ontological approach in addressing the question: what shapes context of NPO management in Africa? Four arguments are advanced. First, the chapter argues that nonprofit management context in Africa is a hybrid, shaped by a triple heritage of Euro-American, Oriental and local contexts. Second, African NPOs management context is shaped by accountability imperatives due to demands from core constituencies (donors, state, employees, volunteers and beneficiary communities). Third, the socio-political and economic operating environment, including regulatory frameworks, shapes normative and strategic dimensions, as well as defines opportunities and constraints for NPOs. Finally, management context is conditioned by the imperatives of “everyday functioning” and survival. Following Toepler and Anheier (2004), four approaches – systems theory, contingency theory, resource dependency theory and neo-institutionalism – are employed to illustrate the varying saliences of nonprofit management context in Africa. The chapter further reflects on emergent developments such as domestic donors to argue that even with new opportunities the African obsession with the promotion of Euro-American management styles in formal organizations means that the African NPO management continues to mimic that of the West.
