Africa’s high net-worth individuals give approximately $7 billion every year – mostly in response to local needs. The growth of formal philanthropy has seen these individuals engaging in significant, structured giving, often through institutional foundations. And it has also seen the emergence of a rising middle class emulating the more prominent donors, which is ultimately witnessing the increase of giving overall.
One of the critical strategies that large donors in Africa use is collaboration. As the African proverb says: “When we go together, we go further.” For years, philanthropists have pooled their resources and knowledge to grow the number of investments in charitable causes. In the process, they have built organic forms of collaboration and achieved high levels of impact. Donors on the continent prefer partnering with either government institutions or known organisations which have shown reach and impact in their work and interventions.
Let us explore the landscape of large-scale giving by African philanthropists and some of the most notable collaborations and the reach that have been achieved because of it.
1. Tony Elumelu, African investor and philanthropist, and chairman of United Bank for Africa and Heirs Holdings. In 2015, the Tony Elumelu Foundation committed $100 million to a 10-year program to empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs across the continent. The program has already supported more than 9,000 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries just six years along. In 2019, the foundation sparked a new partnership with the UN Development Program — the UN’s global development network — to train, mentor, and financially support 100,000 young entrepreneurs in Africa over 10 years. This partnership follows others with the African Development Bank, International Committee of the Red Cross, GIZ and United Bank for Africa Plc to create meaningful and permanent impact across Africa.
2. The Kagiso Trust has taken advantage of economic empowerment and transformation programmes in South Africa to build a significant investment portfolio which allows it to finance its philanthropic and development initiatives independently. This solid financial base means that Kagiso can independently shape its funding interventions and use its resources to leverage other contributions for sustainable community development. Quoted from research done by the African Grant Makers Network, “The Kagiso Trust is a South African community foundation founded in the 1980s that has grown its endowment to a value of $500 million through the Kagiso Investment Trust, an investment company established in 1993. In 2005, the Kagiso Investment Trust began to give the Kagiso Trust dividends of approximately $5.8 million per annum. The main reason for Kagiso Trust’s rapid growth is because the Trust generates shareholding for social impact and its investment company taking advantage of redistributive government policies regarding the ownership of the economy. “
Kagiso Trust implements its projects throughout all provinces in South Africa. It is not a grantmaker but instead works with partners and NGOs. The approach to management is bottom-up, and being independent has helped unlock its full potential as an effective partner.
3. Theophilus Danjuma, Nigeria, the chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum, gave $100 million to set up the TY Danjuma Foundation, a grant-making organization that partners with NGOs in education, health, policy and poverty-related fields. An example is the TY Danjuma Foundation collaborated with Development Africa, a charity and international non-governmental organization, to develop a modern, sustainable, and specialised mother and child facility in Takum Local Government, Taraba State. The primary aim of the facility is to provide delivery of maternal and perinatal healthcare to Takum Local Government and surrounding communities. The center strengthens existing health systems within the Local Government by providing 24-hour ambulance service and critical medical services.
4. Ashish J. Thakkar, the Ugandan CEO of Mara Group, spent $1 million funding the Mara Foundation, which sponsors renovations for dozens of Ugandan high schools, funds building workshops for teachers across East Africa and offers scholarships to hundreds of destitute students of East African origin in addition to providing free mentorship to startup entrepreneurs. The foundation shares that Mara Phones CEO Ashish J. Thakkar is chairman of the UN Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council. The GEC is a strategic advisory council that brings together entrepreneurs and thought leaders committed to finding innovative solutions to global problems and helping deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. It also lists the Africa Development Banks Presidential Youth Advisory Group as another advisory board that its CEO sits on.
This is just scratching the surface when it comes to collaboration. Many foundations list their partners and their impact on their website pages. The wealthy are not just giving money; they are also giving their time and knowledge to the spaces in need. Although the UHNW individuals are giving the big cheques, an incoming tide of visible philanthropy is coming from the upcoming wealth builders. One key factor behind the growth in philanthropic giving is Africa’s tremendous economic growth. This has led to a growing middle class, leading to a healthy increase in the pool of actual and potential philanthropists. The African Philanthropy Network estimates the potential giving pool of wealthy individuals at $2.8 billion per year, with the potential to be as high as double-digit billions. Materializing these potential dollars and making the most of the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution will probably see more up and coming philanthropists cooperate. The potential impact of moving the needle on many “basic needs” is enormous.
