What Network For Africa does

Network for Africa is a UK-registered charity (charity number 1120932, company 06317689) founded in 2007 by Rebecca Tinsley, with a parallel 501(c)(3) entity in the United States. The organization partners with local NGOs and community-based organizations in sub-Saharan Africa to deliver trauma counselling, mental health care, and livelihoods support to survivors of conflict and genocide and their families. Programme delivery is concentrated in four countries — Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone — through operational partnerships with BNUU (Uganda), Survivors Fund/SURF (Rwanda), Network for Salone and Conforti (Sierra Leone), Aspire Rwanda, Patongo Community Counselling Outreach (Uganda), and a Burundian partner organization. The portfolio of services includes trauma counselling, self-help groups, monthly mental health clinics, epilepsy and HIV counselling, livelihoods training with income-generating activities, women's empowerment, childcare for beneficiaries, and community awareness via radio and meetings.

Network for Africa does not operate proprietary technology. Its offering rests on a community-based methodology developed and refined since 2008 — initially by volunteer psychologists Dr. Barbara Bauer and Shelly Evans — that trains local peer counsellors to deliver group and individual counselling. The model's differentiator is its foundational sequencing: trauma and mental health support precedes livelihoods interventions, on the thesis that survivors cannot engage economically until psychosocial recovery is underway. Reported outcomes include 62% of clients describing their health as "good" or "very good" after six months of support (versus 6% at intake), income increases of 30–200% following livelihoods support, and 81% of participants producing more food for their families.

The revenue model is donation-dependent and highly diversified. Income is generated through individual one-time and monthly donations (suggested from £7/$9 per month), Big Give match-funding campaigns (over £198,000 raised since 2017), grants from trusts and foundations (Baring Foundation, Comic Relief, National Lottery Community Fund, John Ellerman Foundation, Addax and Oryx Foundation, Fondation d'Harcourt), government grants (UK DFID/FCDO, Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission), corporate partnerships, third-party fundraising events (London Marathon, cycling challenges), and channel partnerships (PayPal Giving Fund, Give as You Live). The organization is governed by Boards of Trustees in the UK (chaired by David Russell) and the US (chaired by Rosie Cowell), with a small core team of 1–10 employees plus volunteer advisors.

Name

Network For Africa

Legal name

Network for Africa

Website

https://network4africa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Network for Africa is a UK-registered charity that partners with local NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa to deliver community-based trauma counselling, mental health support, and livelihoods programmes to survivors of conflict and genocide in Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Mental Health Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Mental Health & Crisis Support Services (BPAGACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Medical Missions & Global Health NGOs (BPAGACAI), Refugee, IDP & Migration Humanitarian Assistance (BPAGAAAH), International & Local Implementing NGOs (HLAJAKAD), MHPSS & Trauma-Informed Support for Displaced Populations (BPADAHAJ)

Keywords

• Community mental health
• Trauma counselling programs
• Livelihoods support services
• Humanitarian charity work
• Conflict survivor assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Stamford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and monthly donations from individual supporters worldwide, processed through PayPal and other platforms. Donors can give from UK or US with GiftAid eligibility for UK taxpayers.
2. Big Give Match-Funding Campaigns: Annual match-funding campaigns where donations are matched by champion funders, helping amplify individual contributions. Raised over £198,000 for Rwanda projects since 2017.
3. Trust and Foundation Grants: Funding from charitable trusts and foundations including Baring Foundation, Comic Relief, National Lottery Community Fund, John Ellerman Foundation, and others supporting specific programmes.
4. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporations for funding and support, including Addax and Oryx Foundation, James Tudor Foundation, and others.
5. Event Fundraising: Individual supporters raising funds through events including London Marathon, cycling challenges, and other endurance events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Network for Africa partners with local NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa to deliver community-based mental health support and livelihoods programmes for survivors of conflict and genocide. Its core offerings include trauma counselling programs, mental health clinics, self-help groups, livelihoods training and income-generating activities, women's empowerment, and awareness campaigns delivered through local partner organisations in Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone.

Product overview

Network for Africa is a humanitarian charity offering a portfolio of community-based mental health and livelihoods support services across Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone. The core offering centers on Trauma Counselling Programs that train local peer counsellors to deliver group and individual counselling to survivors of conflict and genocide. These counselling services are integrated with Self-Help Groups that provide mutual support, savings schemes, and advocacy. Supporting infrastructure includes Mental Health Clinics providing medication and treatment, Community Awareness and Education campaigns through radio and meetings, and Epilepsy Treatment Support. Economic recovery is addressed through Livelihoods Support Programs offering agricultural training, income-generating activities, and business development. Additional services include Women's Empowerment Programs with vocational training, Childcare Support for program beneficiaries' children, HIV Counselling Services, and Healthcare Centre Support. All programs are delivered through long-term partnerships with local NGOs and community-based organisations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trauma Counselling Programs Community-based trauma counselling programs that train local counsellors and peer support workers to provide mental health support to survivors of conflict and genocide. Programs include group counselling sessions, individual counselling, and ongoing psychological support.
• Livelihoods Support Programs Economic empowerment programs that provide training, start-up grants, and support for income-generating activities. Includes agricultural training, small business development, village savings and loans associations, and entrepreneurship skills to help beneficiaries achieve financial independence.
• Self-Help Groups Community-based support groups for people with mental illness, epilepsy, and their caregivers. Groups provide mutual support, savings and loan funds, and collective advocacy for rights while fostering social connections and reducing isolation.
• Mental Health Clinics Monthly mental health clinics held in local health centres offering medication, counselling, health education, and treatment referral services. Run in partnership with government health workers and community mental health teams.
• Community Awareness and Education Awareness campaigns including community meetings, radio talk shows, and drama performances to educate communities about mental health, reduce stigma, and inform people about available treatment options.
• Women's Empowerment Programs Vocational training, life skills education, and business development programs for vulnerable women. Includes literacy and numeracy training, rights education, and support for cooperative formation.
• Peer Counselling Groups Structured peer support groups led by trained peer counsellors who have themselves experienced trauma. Groups provide safe spaces for survivors to share experiences, learn coping strategies, and build mutual support networks.
• Epilepsy Treatment Support Treatment and support services for people with epilepsy, including medication provision, counselling, and community education to reduce stigma and improve access to care.
• HIV Counselling Services Pre and post-test HIV counselling delivered by trained community counsellors at health centre HIV clinics, helping reduce stigma and encourage testing and treatment seeking behavior.
• Healthcare Centre Support Support for local health facilities including staffing, equipment, and training. Includes maternity services, laboratory facilities, pharmacy services, and community health outreach workers.
• Childcare Support Free pre-school childcare services for children of program beneficiaries, providing nutritious meals, early childhood education, and reducing malnutrition among preschool children.

Quantifiable outcome

• 62% of clients described their health as 'good' or 'very good' after 6 months of support (vs 6% at start)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Network for SalonecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Local partner providing mental health services in Port Loko District, Sierra Leone since 2018. Provides training, practical help and psychological support to survivors including amputees from the civil war.
• BNUU (Basic Needs UK in Uganda)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Local partner providing mental health services in Agago District, northern Uganda since 2017. BNUU supports access to mental health services through training, research, advocacy and awareness raising, targeting sufferers of mental disorders. Has grown from community-based organization serving over 5,000 community members with 35 staff and volunteers.
• Survivors Fund (SURF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Local partner supporting survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Founded by Mary Kayitesi Blewitt OBE in 1997, SURF supports survivors through local partner organisations established and managed by survivors themselves including AVEGA and AERG.
• Conforti Community Aid Children OrganisationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSierra Leonean NGO based in Freetown and Port Loko addressing educational and welfare needs of young people including mental health and psychosocial needs. Implementing partner for mental health programmes in Sierra Leone.
• Health Poverty ActionsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner providing support for livelihoods programmes in Sierra Leone alongside Network for Salone and Conforti.
• Aspire RwandacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRwandan NGO based in Kigali providing training and support to women to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. Founded by Peace Ruzage, ASPIRE helped 620 women with life skills training 2009-2018.
• Patongo Community Counselling Outreach (PCCO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal NGO established in Patongo, Uganda in 2010 by community members to provide counselling services. 24 community counsellors (13 women, 11 men) trained to provide group and individual counselling reaching 30,000+ people.
• Big GivecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAnnual match-funding campaign platform enabling donations to be doubled during Christmas Challenge. Network for Africa has participated since 2012.
• Dr. Barbara BauersupportingOthersVolunteer psychologist who provided in-depth counselling skills training to community counsellors in Uganda and Rwanda starting in 2008.
• Shelly EvanssupportingOthersLicensed Professional Counsellor volunteering as mental health trainer since 2008, training counsellors in Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Iraq.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Mind UK: UK's leading mental health charity, providing advice, support and campaigning on mental health across England and Wales. Comparable as a mental-health-focused charity but operating domestically rather than in conflict-affected Africa, making it a broader-incumbent reference rather than a direct peer.
• Tearfund: UK-based Christian relief and development agency working through local church and community partners in over 50 countries, including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Sierra Leone, with mental health and livelihoods programmes. Comparable as a UK-registered charity delivering community-level development in the same geographies.
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF): Large international humanitarian medical organization providing emergency healthcare, including mental health services, in conflict-affected and low-resource settings including Burundi, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Overlaps with Network for Africa's mission but at much greater scale and scope.
• Amref Health Africa: Africa's largest health NGO, headquartered in Nairobi and focused on training community health workers, including mental health components, across sub-Saharan Africa. Highly relevant as a larger incumbent working in the same region on community health, though operating at substantially greater scale.
• Partners in Health: Global health nonprofit providing comprehensive healthcare, including mental health, in resource-poor settings, with longstanding presence in Rwanda and Burundi. Comparable for its partnership-driven, community-based approach in the same African geographies, though at significantly larger scale.

Direct peers

• Health Poverty Action: UK-based charity tackling the root causes of ill health and poverty in some of the world's poorest communities, including Sierra Leone where it co-implements livelihoods programming alongside Network for Africa's local partner Network for Salone. Highly comparable as a UK charity focused on health-anchored development in sub-Saharan Africa.
• International Alert: International peacebuilding organization working with people affected by conflict to build sustainable peace, including mental health and livelihoods components in post-conflict African states. Comparable for its conflict-affected community focus and European-headquartered NGO structure.
• BasicNeeds UK: BasicWorks to improve mental health and epilepsy care for people in low- and middle-income countries through community-based programmes and partnerships with local NGOs. Its Uganda arm is BNUU, Network for Africa's longest-standing implementing partner, making it the most directly comparable peer in model, geography and beneficiary profile.
• CBM UK: International disability and mental health NGO working through local partners in low-income countries, including Uganda and Sierra Leone. Comparable as a UK-headquartered INGO that delivers community-based mental health and livelihoods support in similar geographies using a partnership-driven model.
• Survivors Fund (SURF): UK-registered charity supporting survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide through survivor-led organisations such as AVEGA and AERG. SURF is one of Network for Africa's core local partners in Rwanda, and is directly comparable in mission, beneficiary group, and Rwanda-focused mental health delivery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/network4africa.bsky.social
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@networkforafrica
• Facebookfacebook.com/thisisnetworkforafrica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/network-for-africa
• Instagraminstagram.com/network4africa

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Network For Africa