Nigerians as the world’s most generous givers

TO the pleasant surprise of many home and abroad, an international organisation, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), recently ranked Nigeria as the world’s most generous country. In its latest global study on charitable giving, the foundation surveyed more than 60,000 people across 105 countries to assess global giving patterns and the factors influencing generosity. In its World Giving Report, the foundation showed that 61 per cent of Nigerians surveyed made donations in 2025, either directly to people in need, to charities, or for religious purposes. The 2025 study even shows a slight downward trend, as a survey in 2024 showed that as much as 64 per cent were generous in their donations. The study found that, on average, people donated one per cent of their income, although the figures varied across regions. Africans gave an average of 1.6 per cent of their income, compared with 0.6 per cent in Europe. The metrics used for the study included income share, participation rates, and volunteer hours.

In terms of income share, the study revealed that Nigerians donated an average of 2.8 per cent of their total income to charitable causes. This is nearly triple the global average donation rate of 1.0 per cent. For participation, the tracking of financial contributions showed that 61 percent of Nigerians made direct financial donations to causes over the tracked period, while, as far as volunteer hours are concerned, the average volunteer time for Nigerians reached 13.5 hours per person, which significantly outpaced the global baseline of 9 hours. The study tracked formal and informal aid given to strangers, religious organisations, and registered charities. It is pertinent to note that these did not include monies sent directly to family and friends, making the high percentage even more notable given the prominent role of familial financial networks in the West African sub-continent.

Some socio-cultural factors explain this national attitude of kindness or generosity. Firstly, giving in Nigeria is a central element in the African and Nigerian culture. Nigerians view giving as a daily social obligation and a communal norm rather than an exceptional act. This accounts for the high expectations from ordinary Nigerians across the formal and informal sectors whenever they deal with people (foreigners or fellow countrymen and women) that some financial gift would be offered by privileged persons or groups for any act or service rendered, even if it is exchanging pleasantries. The shortcoming is that the value is sometimes taken too far, particularly when public officials make a direct demand for a gift when on duty, a development that has attracted negative tags from certain international observers.

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In addition, it is a religious obligation in the three major religions practised in Nigeria to give. Christians and Muslims are taught and persuaded by their holy books and religious leaders to give. In traditional religion, giving is influenced by the cultural ethos of human kindness and acommunal norm. It is no wonder, then, that a substantial portion of the giving is funneled through institutional religious obligations, including traditional Christian tithing and Islamic zakat. It is these networks that routinely intervene to fund local education, healthcare, and welfare programs.

While the CAF report placed Nigeria first in the global ranking, it also showed that Nigerians do not really rank themselves highly in giving. This reinforces the view that they do not consider generosity through giving as anything out of the ordinary. It is a daily lifestyle. The catch from this report is that despite facing an intense, long-running domestic cost-of-living crisis, Nigerian citizens still outperformed all other nations in the global study. The past three years have been harsh for Nigerians, with high rate of unemployment, super-inflationary trends, a high poverty rate, and the closure of small and big businesses as more entrepreneurs continue to run out of cash. Yet, the Nigerian spirit of kindness and culture of giving has not ceased. This can only mean one thing: contrary to negative notions across the globe, Nigerians are not inherently bad. Rather, it is bad governance and the limiting environment it creates that have been holding the country back from achieving its full potential.

Nigerians instinctively welcome foreigners, including some from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Niger, and Togo, as well as hundreds of thousands of immigrants from other parts of West Africa and the Sahel. Some of these elements, particularly those from the Sahel, have abused the opportunity and launched terrorist onslaughts on Nigerians. The welcome has thus become more of a weakness in recent times. This calls for measured generosity and kindness on matters that can upset Nigeria’s safety and national security. Still, the CAF report is cheering news that should encourage everyone. As for the authorities, they should build on this positive news and make the general environment more clement. One thing noteworthy, however, is that Nigerians’ generosity should go beyond religious giving. More should be done, among other areas, in offering academic scholarships, educational endowments, sponsorship of groundbreaking and regular research, rehabilitation of destitutes, and helping of indigent persons who are talented and are assets to the nation.

Although this report is gratifying, Nigerians should intensify the attitude of giving to good causes, including supporting development research, scientific and technological innovations, and manufacturing. In addition, they should improve corporate social responsibility. We encourage Nigerians to continue to be generous, and one way to entrench this culture is by an intentional governmental policy of recognising and rewarding Nigerians who demonstrate a generous spirit by giving to a development cause at any level. In many advanced countries, the government recognises and honours foundations, donors, and generosity in general.