I’ll help you‚ just don’t ask for money… This is how Mzansi and the rest of Africa spread love

 

Only two out of every 10 people in Africa donate money to charity‚ and worldwide‚ donations are at the lowest level in four years.

This is calculated in the 2018 Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index‚ released on Tuesday. This year more than 150‚000 people in 146 countries were surveyed as part of the Gallup World Poll‚ which measures three ways of giving – donations‚ helping a stranger and volunteering.

“The proportion of people across the world who donated money in 2017 – when the research for this year’s report was conducted – is still at its lowest level since 2013‚” the index states.

Donating money has increased amongst those from developed nations (from 40% to 42%)‚ but has declined amongst developing countries (from 25% to 24%). It has also declined amongst the older age groups who have historically been the most likely to give in this way.

Overall‚ 29% of people gave money to a good cause (Africa: 18%).

Across the continents‚ helping a stranger is the most common giving behaviour. Oceania (65%) and Africa (58%) record the highest rates of helping a stranger. Volunteering is consistently the least common behaviour across continents. Oceania records the highest rates (40%) whilst elsewhere around one fifth of people report participating in this way.

People with hearts of gold in Africa hail from Kenya‚ which has this year’s highest CAF World Giving Index score in Africa (54%)‚ followed by Nigeria (48%).

South Africa is only the continent’s tenth most generous nation – and is ranked 40th in the world in this year’s index.

The index states that 72% of people surveyed in Mzansi said they helped a stranger while 34% donated their time. In addition‚ 17% of South Africa’s respondents said that they donated money.

Gill Bates‚ chief executive of CAF Southern Africa‚ said: “It’s encouraging that almost three-quarters of people polled in South Africa had helped a stranger in the last month‚ the same proportion as the previous year. It’s also good news that the culture of giving is growing across Africa as a whole‚ and shows that people have a natural wish to help others.”

Indonesia tops the CAF World Giving Index for the first time. Polling was carried out in 2017‚ before the earthquake and tsunami which struck the country in September 2018. Australia takes second place‚ followed by New Zealand in third. The USA and Ireland round out the top five most generous nations.

-TimesLIVE

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