Nana Asantewa Afadzinu (PhD), is the Executive Director of the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI). She is a driven leader with over 26 years’ experience in the civil society sector and a passionate advocate for sustainable and equitable development in the international development sector. Her passion for leading change and challenging the Status Quo on the continent, landed her a place on the Avance Media 2020 100 Most Influential African Women List.
With a background in law, she has worked on governance, human rights, and capacity development with organisations such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Ibis West Africa and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).
Nana has served on multiple public service, corporate, and non-profit boards and is affiliated with OXFAM GB, the Resource Alliance, the Star Ghana Foundation, YALI West Africa and serves on the Management Committee of the University of Ghana School of Law. Nana is also a prominent member of RINGO and serves as an advisory member of Rights CoLab. She is married and a mother of two children.
Dr. Afadzinu is an alumna of the Columbia University Human Rights Advocates Program and holds advanced degrees from the University of Ghana Faculty of Law and New York University School of Law including a Doctorate in African Philanthropy from the University of Witwatersrand.
Posts
Beyond aid: a Global Majority manifesto for the 2026 Global Partnerships Conference
An invitation and a challenge to move beyond rhetoric, confront power honestly and build an international cooperation system that reflects the world we are working towards. We hear from voices across the Global Majority ahead of the 2026 Global Partnerships Conference.
Going beyond Western models of value to shift the power
NGOs in the global south often have to jump through hoops for foreign donors. They are bereft of power in many ways. How can we shift the power to make it more balanced?