The leaders of a 60-year-old heritage charity are set to leave after the forced closure of its cultural centre amid financial struggles.
Chair Oba Nsugbe and CEO Olu Alake, the latter leaving in October, will soon depart from the Africa Centre, the charity confirmed in a recent statement.
Last week, the Africa Centre announced it had been considering the outright sale of its Southwark, south London, cultural centre due to money troubles.
This came after the centre temporarily closed on 28 July due to circumstances the charity said were beyond its control.
Rising operational costs, reduced grant funding, “immense property debt” and inflation were among the factors cited for the mooted sale.
Nadine White, writing for Black Current News, revealed last Wednesday that the charity had deleted an FAQs page on its website, detailing the leadership departures.
The page has now been republished confirming the exits and also noting that nine of the charity’s board members have left in the past year.
“We will be recruiting to these [board] positions in the very near future,” the charity stated.
“We do not shy away from the fact that mistakes will have been made in good faith and in difficult times.”
Total expenditure at the charity in the year to March 2025 was £1.19m, almost double its £643,000 income, according to its most recent accounts.
Some £1.05m was due to creditors within one year, a rise from £736,000 in 2023-24.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said it was still assessing a serious incident report from the Africa Centre “to determine what regulatory role there might be, if any, for the commission”.
Charity may downsize premises
The Africa Centre said it has the “immediate option” to move into a smaller building in the railway arches next door to its Great Suffolk Street address.
“We already have a long (20-year) lease on this property and would be repurposing it to accommodate many of our community events and activities,” it stated in its FAQs.
The charity added that the building would accommodate its staff, community events and activities.
It said that the sale process would take between six and 12 months as it looks to “significantly reduce” its facility expenses.
“We are reallocating our budget to focus more heavily on digital and right-sized physical programming,” the charity said.
The Africa Centre stated that it could not rule out a permanent closure of its Southwark premises “in the medium term” without a “substantial cash injection.”
It previously announced a national campaign to seek financial support of between £50,000 and £2.5m.
Sustainable business model sought
In 2012, the Africa Centre sold its Covent Garden building for £10.5m, moving into its Southwark premises a decade later.
The Save the Africa Centre Campaign, opposing the sale in 2012, then expressed no confidence in the board to use the proceeds effectively.
Addressing those concerns, the charity said that it has since spent the funds on running programmes from temporary locations during the move, acquiring the Southwark site and covering losses.
Escalating costs, building construction coinciding with the Covid pandemic and dwindling income generation were among financial problems the charity referenced.
“Our current situation is exacerbated by the fact that we do not have title sponsorship or core-funding grant awards as the centre had for most of its time at Covent Garden.
“The main issue that we have struggled with is developing a business model that generates adequate income to ensure our sustainability,” the charity added.
The charity said that more than 20,000 people used the centre that year, hosting 100 events and working with 50 organisations.
