For the past four decades, International NGOs have been playing a major role in providing welfare, relief and developmental services to developing countries. In relation to Sub-Saharan Africa, the objectives of INGOs have always been the provision of services that the African governments are unable to provide for their citizens. INGOs’ projects in health, education and livelihoods programs help to provide the services that the country’s government is incapable to provide to the most susceptible segment of the community. However, INGOs operating in Sub-Saharan Africa experienced difficulties in effectively achieving their operational mandates due to unfavorable working conditions, i.e., political-legal constraints, and safety and security concerns. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the roles INGOs have been playing and the dominant factors that affect their operations and management policies and practices in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study findings demonstrated that external factors such as political and legal systems, economic changes, socio-cultural factors and perception of colonialism, and globalization directly influenced the successful operations and management of INGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: The Roles of INGOs, Factors Affecting INGOs, INGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa