Lagos, Nigeria – Having only spent a few days in Lagos, Nigeria, I can’t claim to be an expert on how deep or severe government corruption and efficiency is in this city or country. However, I’ve spoken to many people and asked about their views on all levels of government in their country, and I can say that a general sentiment is that NGOs and the private sector fill an important void by providing services that the government does not.

Private-sector participation in development has already been recognized widely as a global trend, but because of the special mix of hugely profitable private industry and corrupt government officials in Nigeria, the role of the private/NGO sector in providing basic services like water pipelines, roads, and schools is even more crucial to development here than it is in some other West African countries. Read more

Bamako, Mali - Nearly 30 young men were hauling wood, welding, and bustling around what looked more like an open-air high-school theater set under construction than an assembly line. But an assembly line it was, for a carpentry factory. The owner of the small factory, which is locally called an atelier, supervises over 100 apprentices, who work six days a week for at least ten hours a day, receiving a little money “every now and then” for their work.

This is what my colleague Milena Mikael-Debass, GFC’s program associate for Africa, and I saw when we traveled to Commune 5 in Bamako to take a look at GFC Sustainability Award winner Association Jeunesse Actions (AJA) Mali’s activities with young apprentices. In this community, AJA Mali offers afternoon sessions in basic literacy and numeracy for young adult apprentices who have had little or no exposure to school. Most of these apprentices are between the ages of 16 and 25, and these afternoon classes are the only chance they have to learn basic skills, such as how to write their names and how to write out receipts and bills. Read more