Though decades of public investment and foreign aid efforts have focused on eradicating Nigeria’s postcolonial economic and social development challenges, those challenges remain urgent and immense. While Nigeria is the fourth-largest economy in Africa with a gross domestic product (GDP) of USD 187.76 billion as of 2024, half of its population of more than 230 million people live in poverty. And the country is struggling to meet its development goals; in 2025, it ranked 147 out of 167 countries with an SDG score of 54.7 out of 100. By contrast, regional neighbors Senegal and Ghana are ranked 117 and 120, respectively, with index scores of 63.5 and 63.1. Similarly populous countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan also outrank Nigeria in SDG performance, with ranks of 77 and 140, respectively. Development progress and poverty reduction have also manifested unevenly across Nigeria. For instance, an entrenched North-South divide remains, with 65 percent of those living in poverty concentrated in the North—particularly the North-East and North-West regions—compared to 35 percent in the South.

To date, Nigeria has achieved the targets of only one sustainability goal—SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production—and is on track to achieve just one more—SDG 13 on climate action—before the 2030 deadline. In its July 2025 Voluntary National Review at the U.N. High-Level Political Forum, the Nigerian government highlighted five additional goals—3, 5, 8, 14, and 17, on good health and well-being, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, life below water, and partnerships, respectively—as its priorities for improvement. To meet these and other SDGs—as well as the country’s potential, by fueling growth and reducing persistent inequalities—a multistakeholder effort that brings together the Nigerian public and private sectors, blended finance, and both domestic and diaspora philanthropic sources will be key, particularly following recent decreases in ODA.

While diaspora philanthropy alone cannot meet all of Nigeria’s development financing needs, when strategically targeted and deployed alongside other forms of financing, it could play a significant role in catalyzing development. In 2020, private money transfers—including diaspora philanthropy and remittances—totaled USD 660 billion from 47 economies from every region of the world, significantly exceeding the USD 180 billion spent on ODA that year. Additionally, new research by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found that philanthropic contributions to development totalled over USD 68 billion between 2020 and 2023— equivalent to 10 percent of ODA—the majority of which was cross-border in nature. Financing models that blend diaspora philanthropy and remittances with domestic entrepreneurship, investment, and resource mobilization therefore have the potential to make measurable and multifold impacts on Nigeria’s development financing.

Though comprehensive data are limited, diaspora giving globally has supported development goals such as health, education, infrastructure, and poverty alleviation. For example, Mexican diaspora hometown associations have helped build roads, schools, and water systems, with governments matching donations, while the Ethiopian diaspora played a critical role in financing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) alongside domestic crowdsourcing and government bond issuances. In the Philippines, the Linking Filipinos Abroad with Local Initiatives program delivered more than PHP 3.4 billion in aid benefiting more than one million people between 2010 and 2020. Similarly, in India, Nigeria, and Ghana, diaspora-based religious and community networks have supported school construction, scholarships, and medical outreach, filling gaps in state capacity.

These successes in diaspora engagement and fundraising are all relevant to the Nigerian context and are mirrored by limited and ad hoc giving already underway by the Nigerian diaspora. Indeed, FP Analytics’ interviews with members of the diaspora who are undertaking philanthropy in Nigeria found that many are working to achieve Nigeria’s SDGs, whether through a deliberate alignment with the SDG agenda or because of their personal and professional interest in sectors such as health care, education and training, and hospitality.

Diaspora philanthropy represents a promising source for development funding, infrastructure financing, and in-kind support—however, active engagement by the government, domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multilateral institutions will be critical to ensuring that diaspora philanthropy addresses the full range of Nigeria’s development needs and is not overly focused on specific sectors or states. A 2022 study of remittances from the United Kingdom to Nigeria, for example, found that 87.5 percent of Nigerian remittances for infrastructure were focused on housing, with just 7.5 percent channeled to education and 2.5 percent contributed collectively to utilities, public works, and transit infrastructure. Additionally, while Nigerians emigrate from across the country, a 2023 study of emigration intent among 1,600 Nigerian adults found that 40 percent of southern Nigerians intended to emigrate, compared to 30 percent of Northern Nigerians, with northern Nigerians more likely to plan a move within Africa and southern Nigerians more likely to plan a move to North America. Harnessing diaspora giving as a source of development finance will therefore require formal guidance and engagement with diaspora communities.