Giving to specific causes that have a direct influence on individuals, communities, and society as a whole is an art that transcends generations.
Overall, the motivations for individuals, institutions, and organizations adopting philanthropy, in reality, to lend a helping hand—whether in money or kind—to entities or groups of needy people have been largely characterized by various viewpoints and positions.
The majority of the debate around philanthropy in practice has centred less on the results and effects on the recipients and more on the sources of donors’ income. However, and in contrast to traditional predictions of a noticeable decline in volume and impact, the charity has increased in recent decades by leaps and bounds, shattering previously established obstacles to the entrance that had been temporarily created throughout markets and territories.
However, compared to the West, Africa’s main problems are poverty and rising inequality. The region is regarded as the second-most unequal in the world and is home to seven of the most unequal nations, with the wealthiest 0.0001% possessing 40% of the continent’s wealth (according to OXFAM).
The need for more effective resource distribution to reach the poorest individuals and communities has always remained due to the ongoing problems of political instability, corruption, and inadequate management of shared resources by the ruling class. The continent has a wealth of potential, including a growing population that is primarily made up of young people between the ages of 18 and 35, rapidly expanding economies, and much more room for development because of the region’s richness of natural resources.
As a result, Africa has always served as a breeding ground for the most effective development work by philanthropists worldwide, holding a strong draw for the deployment of private funds for the emancipation and amelioration of the plights of the poorest communities in the hampered rural areas as well as the growing cosmopolitan cities.
It is obvious that African youths who are driven to end the generational stagnation and underdevelopment that they have endured will now be more responsible for redefining the models for philanthropic intermediation—the re-channelling of funds from surplus to deficit units—and its attendant execution. With ready energy, passion, and, more crucially, substantial advancements in technology achieved as a result of creativity and ingenuity, they have a vehicle at their disposal to carry out their objectives, providing a breakthrough for community penetration.
A crucial “good trend in philanthropy is the creation of instruments to encourage and facilitate such giving,” according to Jacob Mwathi, an active Associate Professor and Deputy Director at the Centre for African Philanthropy and Social Investment, Wits Business School in South Africa.
Through social networking, crowdfunding websites, and mobile giving, technology has indeed given rise to new modes of giving. Such tools might help with fundraising efforts and function as a spur for domestic donating.
There are many chances to build on the achievements made thus far, especially with social purpose crowdfunding. On websites like GoFundMe, there has been incredible donating that has exceeded thousands of dollars and helped with critical medical, social, educational, political, and financial aims.
Similar to how adults may use technology to mobilize and collaborate across geographic borders, adolescents can do the same to mobilize time, natural resources, talents, and abilities for charitable purposes.
On the domestic front, social media is proving to be a real tool for not only the identification of social causes but also the mobilization and eventual distribution of their message, despite the fact that the strength of interventions in underdeveloped African neighbourhoods has previously been advanced primarily on the backdrop of religion, policy, and projects.
Additionally, the congregation of worshippers’ shared faith has provided a solid foundation for a developing “congregation” of young philanthropists, particularly with “almsgiving,” a fundamental principle of both the Christian and Muslim religions. Youths can do extensive outreach in homes and communities with a strong sense of togetherness, belief, and purpose by riding the coattails of religious causes.
Reputable and well-known international organizations are paving the way for the next wave of charitable mediation in Africa to advance social issues and lessen suffering and mortality. In this effort, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is prominent.
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Many African countries have experienced similar electioneering practices in the past, with aspirant public officials spending significant sums of money and engaging in staple sharing to influence the acceptability of voting blocs within targeted communities. But even if this doesn’t really change how people in these places climb the poverty ladder, they have temporarily addressed the requirements of both individuals and citizens. Since they make up the greatest portion of the voting public in many African countries like Nigeria, they can advocate for a higher concentration of private money for development with strong social causes.
Elites are becoming more and more in favor of pooling resources from business moguls in the private sector to address development, with the African continent’s largest interventions going to the health and education sectors. As can be expected, it makes the case that technology and human capital are game changers in a world that urgently yearns for change, income redistribution, and wellness, while not being unrelated to the renewed attention on health, wellbeing, and the future of work following COVID-19.
Development is being fueled by noble causes that were previously disregarded. The National Youth Service Corp in Nigeria, where I was born, is a one-year program that encourages recent university graduates to work toward national integration, knowledge, and community development. Each year, hundreds of noteworthy projects are carried out by recent school graduates both independently and in partnership with local governments, traditional leaders, businesses, the government, and non-governmental organizations.
This seems to support my fervent opinion that young people have been part of society and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in a disruptive jet era. They are the necessary frameworks to, at the very least, reinforce the pursuit of kindness and higher levels of growth both within and beyond of proximate communities. The trigger to hit the mark on the continent is, at the at least, a willing and passionate mind coupled with a distinct and noble aim to turn around the fortune of every poor African.
