The socio-political context in West Africa is undergoing significant changes. The region’s turbulent past of authoritarian regimes, political instability, civil wars and debilitating developmental challenges have brought a realization that the future of the region lies in the capacity of states, inter-governmental and civil society institutions to develop functional and responsive governance systems.

The shrinking donor support has aroused the need for civil society in West Africa to build long-term partnerships with a non-traditional partner, the private sector.

These systems require a shift in the previous conceptualization of governance as the preserve of government to inclusive governance that incorporates the contributions of civil society and the private sector. To achieve this, each sector in the governance structure has to be well organized particularly civil society, which as a defined sector is still in its infancy. Civil society is a complex and evolving sector. It consists of organized and organic informal groupings that exist outside the state including political parties and the market.

Civil society has become an integral part of policy-making and service delivery. They have contributed immensely to socio-economic development by critiquing poorly conceived regional and national policy initiatives, exposing ineptitude in the public service and providing an understanding of the governance challenges facing our democracies.

Read the full article on civil society by Charles Kojo VanDyck at Medium