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8 Countries In Africa That Score Highest For Giving To Charity

8 Countries In Africa That Score Highest For Giving To Charity

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Countries in Africa are often the focus of news reports about how they get international aid and charity that provide much-needed relief from poverty, AIDS/HIV, homelessness and other areas of need — some of them, benefiting big business.

What gets little or no attention is how Africans give. The Guardian released a list of some of the countries in Africa whose citizens are among the most generous in the world. More than 10 African countries made it into the top 50 list. This list is proof that people in need can recognize when somebody is worse off than they are, and lend a hand.

These countries were rated based on percentage of the population that gives money to charity, donates their time to volunteer organizations, and that has helped a stranger. These are the 8 countries in Africa that score highest for giving.

Source: Theguardian.com

Sudan, 38 percent giving score

Twenty-six percent of Sudanese people donate money to charity, and 20 percent donate their time to organizations. As of 2013, 40,000 Sudanese people were living in extreme poverty. In 2011, thousands of South Sudanese gathered at the Sudan-South Sudan border, hoping to go home after South Sudan’s anticipated independence. After transportation never came to take them home, they developed settlements in which they live in appalling conditions, according to Unocha.org.

Market_in_Lagos,_Nigeria

Nigeria, 39 percent giving score

Twenty nine percent of Nigerians donate money to charity, and 28 percent donate their time to organizations. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa due to its rich oil resources, but still over half the population has lived in poverty during the last decade, according to Poverties.org. Poverty exists mainly in rural regions of the country among farming families. The smaller the family, the smaller the income.

Thinkstock
Thinkstock

The Central African Republic, 40 percent giving score

Twenty-four percent of residents of the Central African Republic donate money to charity and 47 percent donate their time to organizations. The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in Africa, with over 90 percent of the population living in crippling poverty, according to Sos-childrensvillages.org. The country also has over 300,000 orphans under the age of 14 and an HIV/AIDS rate of 4.7 percent.

Water-flowing-in-Tanzania-009(1)

Tanzania, 40 percent giving score

Forty-two percent of Tanzanians donate money to charity, and 26 percent donate their time to organizations. Tanzania’s main challenges are food security and poverty, says Socialwatch.org. As of 2012, Tanzania was one of the world’s least developed countries, and over 70 percent of the population lived in rural areas and made money through agriculture. The country is facing massive deforestation which could essentially eliminate a means of income for most of the country.

edgymix.com
edgymix.com

Morocco, 40 percent giving score

Seventy-two percent of Moroccans donate money to charity and 4 percent donate their time to organizations. There is a huge disparity between the number of people who give money versus those who give their time, and that reflects the disparity between the rich and the poor in the country. Uneven development in the country contributes to a powerful affluent class, and a stifled lower class. At one point, the wealthiest 20 percent of Moroccans controlled 46.6 percent of the country’s wealth, while the poorest 20 percent controlled only 6.5 percent, says Nationsencyclopedia.com.

Voting in Malawi. Photo: AFP/Getty
Voting in Malawi. Photo: AFP/Getty

Malawi, 41 percent giving score

Twenty-nine percent of Malawians donate money to charity and 35 percent donate their time to organizations. As of 2015, Malawi was ranked the poorest country in the world based on GDP per capita. Over half of Malawi’s population lives on less than $1 per day, according to Nyasatimes.com. Yet 58 percent of Malawians help a stranger on a monthly basis.

Kenyapoa.wordpress.com/Kenyan slum
Kenyapoa.wordpress.com/Kenyan slum

Kenya, 41 percent giving score

Thirty percent of Kenyans donate money to charity, and 28 percent donate their time to organizations. Kenya has one of the highest population-growth rates in the world. Much of the population depends on farming for income and unpredictable weather patterns in recent years has made farming difficult, says Answersafrica.com.

Globalvoices.org/Poverty in Luanda, Angola
Globalvoices.org/Poverty in Luanda, Angola

Angola, 41 percent giving score

Twenty-four percent of Angolans donate money to charity and 39 percent donate their time to organizations. Angola is battling poverty, but between 2000 and 2014, the number of Angolans living on less than $2 a day dropped from 92 percent to 54 percent. Angola has some of the highest military spending in Africa. Angola has some of the highest military spending in Africa with a $4.15 billion defense budget in 2015, according to the 2015 Global Firepower Index.

During his 2014 state-of-the-nation message, the president promised more of the country’s revenue will be directed to social security, especially programs for war veterans, according to Portalangop.co.ao.