MEDICAL AIDS (TREATMENT AND LIVE SAVING SURGERIES

The widely held understanding of philanthropy in Africa recognizes and presupposes the flow of resources, effort and generosity largely in one direction: from outside of Africa into Africa. For centuries that notion has remained mostly unchanged. Africa has the reputation of being a foreign aid dependent continent, which is in reality far from the truth.

There is a growing body of evidence that Africa’s wealth is increasing and high net worth Africans are sprouting across the continent at a remarkable rate. The 2014 Africa Wealth Report indicates that the number of high net worth individuals in Africa grew by over 150% between 2000 and 2013, more than double the global rate. This has resulted in the emergence of foundations and charities set up by Africans like Aliko Dangote, Mo Ibrahim, Tony Elumelu, Folorunsho Alakija and Graça Machel to name a few. Efforts are also being made by Africans in the diaspora to give back to the continent by forming organizations to fund and volunteer in Africa. This indicates that even larger supplies of effort and resources circulate both from Africans outside the continent to those at home as well as within the African continent itself.