The improvement Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) has opened applications for a second spherical of its NGO Support Initiative (NSI), providing free government training to Nigerian civil society organisations, foundations and different social-impact organisations.
The eight-week digital programme, scheduled to run from 20 October to 19 December 2026, is designed to strengthen organisational administration, resilience, philanthropy and sustainable funding amongst native organisations.
The initiative is being carried out in collaboration with Leiden University within the Netherlands, Dangote Business School and the Centre for Entrepreneurship Research and Training (CERT), Bayero University, Kano.
The programme comes amid rising issues in regards to the sustainability of Nigerian civil society organisations following cuts to worldwide improvement help and rising regulatory calls for on non-profit organisations.
In 2025, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the dRPC launched the primary spherical of the NSI to help Nigerian NGOs affected by worldwide funding cuts, significantly the disruption attributable to the United States authorities’s choice to halt a number of overseas help programmes.
The first spherical attracted 495 applications, with 17 organisations ultimately receiving N5 million every to implement initiatives affected by the funding disruption.
The initiatives coated areas together with maternal well being, women’ schooling, digital expertise for younger individuals and humanitarian help.
Funding disaster
The funding problem dealing with Nigerian NGOs has persevered past the preliminary disruption to USAID-funded programmes.
In a February 2026 opinion article revealed on PREMIUM TIMES, Judith-Ann Walker, government director and founding member of the dRPC, wrote that Nigerian NGOs have been getting into 2026 with fewer grant alternatives and would wish to discover new funders, partnerships and various funding fashions.
She famous that the withdrawal of USAID help had affected organisations working in areas together with youth entrepreneurship, local weather justice, public well being advocacy, faculty security, zero-dose youngsters and human rights, with some organisations pressured to shut programmes, workplaces and disengage employees.
PREMIUM TIMES additionally reported in June 2025 that Nigerian civil society organisations engaged on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria have been calling for stronger home useful resource mobilisation to cut back dependence on overseas donors.
Stakeholders on the time argued that Nigeria couldn’t proceed to rely indefinitely on authorities and exterior donors to finance important improvement interventions, significantly as worldwide donors more and more rethink their support commitments.
The dRPC’s second-round programme displays a few of these issues, with considered one of its training streams specializing in organisational resilience, sustainable funding methods and dealing with authorities to scale programmes.
New regulatory calls for
The training additionally comes as Nigerian non-profit organisations face elevated scrutiny of their operations and funding.
In July, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Nigeria Network of NGOs urged organisations to deal with regulatory compliance as a central a part of their operations, together with protecting registrations, annual returns, tax filings and different authorized obligations updated.
The challenge has turn into extra outstanding following the introduction of a proposed Foreign Aid (Regulation, Transparency and Disclosure) Bill, which seeks to require NGOs to register overseas support and donor-funded initiatives with the federal government.
The invoice handed second studying within the Senate in July, prompting debate over transparency, accountability and the potential impact of elevated regulation on civic area.
In September, a coalition of civil society organisations known as for the withdrawal of the invoice, arguing that it might limit civic area and provides authorities extreme powers over organisations primarily based on their sources of funding.
Against this backdrop, the dRPC stated its second-round training would come with a module on compliance with the regulatory surroundings, alongside mission administration, accountability, expertise improvement, organisational visibility and sustainable funding.
Two training streams
The first stream, an eight-week Senior Executive Training Programme on NGO Management for Project Impact and Organisational Resilience, is focused at 20 registered and compliant Nigerian CSOs with lively grants.
The organisations should be working in areas together with technical and vocational schooling and training and women’ schooling, public well being, the digital financial system, local weather motion and humanitarian help.
Two representatives from every organisation, together with founders, mission administrators or gender leads, are anticipated to take part.
The second stream focuses on professionalising native philanthropy, strengthening charitable foundations and enhancing company social duty.
It is open to twenty Nigerian foundations, charitable associations, previous boys’ and women’ organisations and CSR models of business organisations with lively charitable portfolios supporting non-profit organisations.
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Participants will likely be skilled on points together with social entrepreneurship, sustainable financing, monetary and strategic administration, taxation and regulatory compliance, monitoring and influence reporting.
The dRPC stated individuals who full both programme will obtain certificates signed by the dRPC, Leiden University, Dangote Business School and CERT.
It stated the training is free and that profitable candidates wouldn’t be required to pay any charge or different consideration.
Applications for both stream shut on 15 October 2026.
Application hyperlink: CLICK HERE
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