Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional Reviewer: Tendai Murisa
Institutional Affiliation: SIVIO Institute

Overview

There is a growing recognition of African Philanthropy as an emerging sector. The giving ecosystem is growing, thanks largely to the growth of middle, millionaire, and billionaire classes across Africa. These have contributed significantly to shaping a new ecosystem of giving. Africa has more than 20 billionaires, worth an average of USD $5.1 billion. These billionaires have established various ways of giving that range from purely corporate social responsibility to independent foundations. The period under review has also been associated with the growth of intermediary philanthropy institutions. These receive large grants, mostly from global-North-based foundations, to then distribute them as smaller grants to organizations spread across the continent. Furthermore, there is a notable increase in middle-class-based giving. According to a 2024 report by EPIC Africa, approximately 65% of African nonprofits receive individual donations from Africans within and outside the continent. Outside of these formal institutional and predictable forms of giving there is a resilient tradition-informed range of players and mechanisms that have hitherto not been widely recognized. “In addition to the smaller, more formal set of institutionalized philanthropy institutions, there is a much larger, much more prevalent and very diverse set of practices, mechanisms and traditions of giving. They include merry go rounds (rotating savings and/or credit associations), communal asset building mechanisms such as harambee, provision of assets such as oxen or farming equipment, communal grain savings schemes for those who are in need” (Mahomed, 2014).

The growth of African philanthropy, especially formalized HNWI-based giving, has been negatively affected by incidences of growing inflation. There was a significant decline in the wealth of billionaires in 2023. However, by 2024, a few of them seem to have recovered slightly. According to Forbes (2024), the 20 billionaires on the 2024 Forbes list of “Africa’s Billionaires” are worth a combined USD $82.4 billion compared to last year’s $81.5 billion. The ongoing black- and grey-listing of countries by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) has led to a few countries establishing measures that restrict the movement of money across borders.

View the full 2025 GPEI Sub-Saharan Africa regional report:

View Sub-Saharan Africa Report