January 2019 – NNNGO

January 30, 2019

Newsletter – Understanding the Companies and Allied Matters Act

January, 2019

Corporate and nonprofit organisations in Nigeria and beyond have for many years supported and/or engaged in charitable causes, which have met the yearnings of individuals, groups and the society in general- in carrying out these charitable activities however, there are regulations nonprofits need to adhere to in order to ensure smooth operations within their organisations.

One of such regulations is the repealed and enacted Part C of Companies Allied Matters Act (CAMA) which is now Part F of CAMA in the newly amended version, released in May 2018 by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. CAMA is the legislation that established the Corporate Affairs Commission, the body charged with the formation, regulation and management of all companies in Nigeria. The Part C now part F, provides for incorporated trustees which nonprofit organisations are referred to. Therefore, the CAMA is a regulatory manual on how Nigerian NGOs should be established, run and regulated.

It was the determination of the Nigerian Federal Government to reform the law regulating the affairs of companies and its administration in Nigeria following concerns and calls from stakeholders over the obsolete nature of some of its provisions and penalties.

The Part F of CAMA applies to nonprofit and charitable organisations specifically in matters relating to incorporation of trusteeship, filing annual returns, creation of a common seal, preservation of accounting records, developing an organisational constitution and processes that aids the smooth running of nonprofits. This law also guides nonprofits in setting up their governing bodies, sometimes referred to as “Board of Directors”, “Board of Trustees” or simply, “Trustees”.

The implications of the new amendment “Part F” is that it seeks to establish an even more efficient way of registering organisations, minimizing compliance burdens of nonprofits as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to bring Nigeria’s foremost commercial law in line with international best practices. The eighteen (18) clauses contained in the Part C of the CAMA, now combined with ten (10) new clauses to make the Part F , in theory provides a more robust document for which Nigerian nonprofits can digest and readily access for information on what the Corporate Affairs Commission requires of a standard civil society. It is hoped that this trend will aid the provision and promotion of a more enabling operational environment for Nigerian nonprofit organisations.

Further Reading

https://blog.deloitte.com.ng/senate-passes-bill-to-repeal-and-re-enact-cama/ http://www.mondaq.com/Nigeria/x/753410/Corporate+Commercial+Law/The+Companies+And+Allied+Matters+Bill+2018+Implications+For+Businesses+In+Nigeria

This newsletter is supported by the Commonwealth Foundation. However, the ideas and opinions presented in this document do not necessarily represent those of Commonwealth Foundation, NNNGO or any other organisations mentioned.

January 30, 2019

Part F of CAMA and its Implication for Nigerian Nonprofits (January, 2019)

Corporate entities and nonprofit organizations in Nigeria and beyond have continued to support and engage in charitable causes, which have met the yearnings and aspirations of individuals, groups and the society at large. In carrying out these charitable activities there are regulations nonprofits need to adhere to in order to ensure smooth operations within their organisations.

One of such regulations is the repealed and enacted Part C of Companies Allied Matters Act (CAMA), now referred to as Part F of CAMA, in the newly released amended version by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in May 2018; the Companies and Allied Matters Act is a regulatory manual on how NGOs should be established and run. The Part C, now part F, provides for incorporated trustees.

It was the determination of the Nigerian Federal Government to reform the law regulating the affairs of companies and its administration in Nigeria that led to the promulgation of the CAMA and established the Corporate Affairs Commission.

Nonprofit charitable organizations are governed by Board of Directors (sometimes called Trustees); the Part F helps explain processes to incorporating trusteeship, file annual returns, common seal, preservation of accounting records, developing an organisational constitution and other regulations which aids the smooth running of nonprofits.

The implications shown from the new amended Part F is that it seeks to establish an efficient way of registering an organisation with ease, minimizing compliance burden of nonprofits as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to bring Nigeria’s foremost commercial law in line with international best practices.

Further Reading
http://www.mondaq.com/Nigeria/x/753410/Corporate+Commercial+Law/The+Companies+And+Allied+Matters+Bill+2018+Implications+For+Businesses+In+Nigeria

This publication has been produced with the support of the Commonwealth Foundation. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of NNNGO and should in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Commonwealth Foundation.

January 30, 2019

Newsletter – Understanding the Companies and Allied Matters Act

January, 2019

Further Reading

January 30, 2019

Press Release – NNNGO Partners TechSoup West Africa to Provide Affordable Technology to CSOs in Nigeria

The Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) has partnered the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) to provide technological tools at discounted prices to nonprofits organisations in Nigeria under the TechSoup West Africa technology donation programme. TechSoup West Africa is a technology donation programme which provides technical support and technological tools to nonprofit organisations across West Africa at little or no cost.

NNNGO’s partnership with WASCI will provide services to Nigerian Nonprofits through technology donation, training and technical assistance at subsidized rates thus, creating a system through which Nonprofits can become more productive and efficient through access to advanced technology.

Nana Asantewa Afadzinu, the Executive Director of WACSI, noted that “this is an opportunity CSOs/NGOs in Nigeria should take full advantage of. It offers the chance to get otherwise expensive but also relevant software for CSOs/NGOs at heavily discounted prices, and enables them to save funds that they can reinvest into other core operational costs. It’s a win-win either way!”

CSOs will be afforded the opportunity to offset their operations cost from IT equipment and infrastructure to support their social mission. This opportunity will strengthen the institutional and operational capacities of CSOs to become more collaborative, responsive and resilient through the use of technology thereby putting Nigerian nonprofits on the map towards global recognition and sustainability.

The Executive Director, NNNGO, Oyebisi, B. Oluseyi noted that “NNNGO is interested in initiatives that build the capacity and improve the quality of work within civil society. This partnership with WACSI is a welcome development and will positively impact the sector”.

Since inception, TechSoup and its global partners have reached more than one million and twenty thousand nonprofit organisations and donated over 10.1billion USD in technological tools and philanthropic services. TechSoup is present in more than 236 countries and territories across the globe and has been implemented in Northern, Eastern and Southern Africa.

To receive discounted product as low as 4-5% of their retail value, kindly visit www.techSoup.global , register your organisation and place an order.

Contacts

nnngo@nnngo.org or call 09069460107

January 23, 2019

2019 Letter to Nonprofit Leaders

Dear Nonprofit Leader,

As we reflect on the sector in 2018, we think about how the work you have done in communities across the country have touched and inspired hope in the less privileged. We have been most influenced by your resilience, empathy for the downtrodden and found motivation in how you are doing so much with very little resources.

Twenty-seven years ago, when our founding mothers and fathers first began to work on the idea that would become the Nigeria Network of NGOs, they were convinced as much as we are now, that nonprofits play an important role in the fabrics of our development and democracy as a nation. They believed that the resources and approaches of the sector if well leveraged by government and the private sector can have a bigger impact together in the attainment of our national development goals than in silos.

They imagined a Network that can improve the operational environment for nonprofits to thrive. In the last 5 years we have had the opportunity of translating this imagination to reality through our sustained engagement with the executive and legislative arms of Government on the operations of nonprofits. In May 2018, we were proud to see the results of our work in the repeal and reenactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) which included our recommendations for the review of the Part C which is now Part F of CAMA in the version passed by the Senate.

As we look into 2019, three key challenges stand out for our sector, testing our values.

Our ability as a sector to remain non-partisan

With the 2019 elections only few weeks away, our sector will need to balance its strong links to beneficiaries and more generally to the bottom billion, high level command of public trust and confidence with the political preferences of nonprofit leaders. It is essential to note that nonprofits cannot give their support to a political party or candidate. How our sector manages itself especially in demarcating between activism, advocacy campaign and political campaign will be tested in 2019 and will serve as a benchmark for the 2023 elections.

Civil Society Diversity

Our differences in opinion, perspectives and understanding of issues while an asset will continue to test our common stand on issues such as rights to freedom of speech, assembly and association. We are witnessing a growing trend in our inability to stand up for each other and to clearly define what the protection of civic space means to our sector and our organisations. Our sector will be challenged on how it responds (collectively) to the arrest and prosecution of human right defenders especially those perceived to have political affiliations and interests including how we rally support for nonprofit organisations (local and international) that may be labelled or victimized as anti-government for their work on protecting the rights of the disadvantaged.

Family

Civil society, being an array of organisations outside of government and private sector, derives its strength from the family unit. Our beliefs and thoughts on family planning will shape how as organisations and leaders we support the need for Nigeria to focus energies on managing its population dynamics through improved funding by the Federal, State and Local Governments to family planning programmes- allocated from their domestic resources. It is increasingly clear that our rate of population growth will continue to lead to hunger, malnutrition, housing shortage, inequality and increased crime rate. Our sector will be challenged by how civil society actors, influencers, leaders and institutions within civil society understand the role of family planning in attaining the SDGs and in coalescing around initiatives that call for increased funding to family planning programmes and services.

Addressing these challenges will be our focus in 2019 at the Nigeria Network of NGOs. Rallying sector leaders around proffering solutions to these challenges, navigating through their wisdom, integrity and influence including coalescing for better results and impacts are the key successes we want to see in 2019.

Certainly, this will be a “long walk to freedom”. We are confident that with you, the journey will be short, adventurous as well as challenging; but in the end, VICTORY WILL BE CERTAIN.

Thank you for coming with us on this journey!

Oyebisi, B. Oluseyi

Executive Director, Nigeria Network of NGOs.

January 14, 2019

Practical Guide on Writing Annual Reports For Nonprofits

This guide has been developed to help nonprofits who are new to writing annual reports to easily get the process started while staying transparent. If properly done, annual reports are an important tool for keeping stakeholders informed about your activities and to keep them engaged. Developed based on our experience at the Nigeria Network of NGOs, this guide offers information on how to plan and create valuable engaging annual report that you can submit to regulators and one that your friends, donors, beneficiaries and other stakeholders would want to read.