Non-State Actor Funding Sources in Nigeria

The activities of non-state actors (NSAs) that work to prevent and mitigate HIV in Nigeria have grown dramatically, as funding has become more available. Increased opportunities, however, also mean an increasing opacity concerning the different sources of funding that NSAs access. In order to gather funding source information for NSAs, interviews with 533 NSA and 48 key informants provided a wealth of information on specific projects and donors.

This study shows that NSAs operate in a complex environment. NSAs both combine funding from multiple sources to carry out their activities and undertake an individual project with a single funding stream, particularly if funding originates with a major donor. A review of the projects analyzed for this report indicated that the donors providing most of the funding were:
• The US Government
• The Nigerian state, in partnership with the World Bank and Global Fund
• Nigerian NGOs

Many Abuja-based government and donor personnel interviewed were skeptical of the capacity and sincerity of many smaller NSAs. While the majority of project funds were not internally generated by NSAs, many NSAs have means of financing their activities through fundraising, income-generation, or other activities, pointing to a higher capacity for funding sustainability than is often believed.