Pew Research Center

Africa, a land revered for its cultural richness and historical complexity, finds itself quietly ensnared in a financial paradox of epic proportions. From 2013 to 2022, a ten-year span, African countries have poured an astronomical $26.5 billion into religious pilgrimages, as revealed by the Pew Research Center. This startling expenditure starkly contrasts with the reality of 460 million Africans living below the poverty line, barely managing to afford basic necessities. The time has come to peel back the layers of organised religion in Africa, a seemingly untouchable institution that, upon closer scrutiny, appears as a carefully constructed façade of exploitation, …