How Nigerians Abroad Send Love Home: Inside the Rise of Diaspora Gifting

It is 9:30 p.m. in London when someone remembers that tomorrow is Mum’s birthday in Lagos. Within minutes, a gift box, cake, personal note and money bouquet have been ordered from a Nigerian business. Nothing needs to be packed into a suitcase or shipped across the Atlantic. The buyer may be thousands of kilometres away, but the birthday will not pass unnoticed.

Welcome to Nigeria’s long-distance love economy.

The World Bank estimated that Nigeria received about $21 billion in formal inward remittances in 2024. Not all of that money was used for gifts, of course, but it shows the enormous financial connection between Nigerians abroad and the people they love at home.

The United Kingdom, United States and Canada are natural markets for diaspora gifting. England and Wales alone recorded 270,768 Nigerian-born residents in the 2021 Census, while Canada’s census also records a substantial population reporting Nigerian origin. Nigeria’s National Diaspora Policy identifies the Americas—particularly the US and Canada—and the UK as major diaspora destinations. (Office for National Statistics)

Where diaspora gift orders come from

In Trelluna’s 300-order editorial survey, the UK generated the largest share of purchases, followed by the US and Canada.

The US produced the highest average order value in the survey, even though the UK produced more orders. American and Canadian buyers were more likely to combine several elements—such as a gift box, cake, flowers and cash—into one delivery.

DHL Nigeria has also identified diaspora gifting as an opportunity for Nigerian businesses, specifically highlighting the UK, US and Canada as important markets to target.

Mothers receive the most diaspora gifts

The most common recipient was not a romantic partner.

It was Mum.

Parents accounted for 34% of all surveyed orders when mothers and fathers were combined.

Partners and spouses came close behind, especially around Valentine’s Day and anniversaries. Sibling gifts were usually connected to birthdays, graduations, new jobs and other congratulations-worthy moments.

The pattern suggests that diaspora gifting is not only romantic. Much of it is about maintaining family presence from a distance.

Birthdays dominate the long-distance calendar

Birthdays were easily the leading occasion, accounting for almost half of the surveryed orders.

Birthdays perform strongly because they are personal, predictable and spread throughout the year.

Mother’s Day also generated more orders than Father’s Day. Anniversary and Valentine’s purchases were more likely to include flowers, personalised items, money bouquets or romantic presentations.

Christmas and Eid orders tended to involve parents, children or entire households rather than just one individual recipient.

Lagos receives almost half of the gifts

The survey showed a strong concentration in Nigeria’s largest cities.

Lagos accounted for almost one in every two deliveries. Abuja and Rivers followed, while Oyo was the strongest South West destination outside Lagos.

This concentration does not necessarily mean Nigerians abroad care less about relatives in smaller cities. It reflects the reality that same-day gifting, broad product selection and reliable last-mile delivery are easier to provide in major urban areas.

Distance makes personalisation more important

Diaspora shoppers could not always attend the celebration, so they tried to make the delivery represent them.

These categories overlap because one order could contain several personalised elements.

The message was the most important feature. A generic “Happy birthday” card was less common than a note containing a memory, prayer, family nickname or explanation of why the gift had been chosen.

Trelluna’s existing Build a Gift process allows customers to select a budget and individual items before adding a personal note, which fits naturally with this type of diaspora purchase.

The biggest worry is not payment—it is delivery

The diaspora buyer’s main concern was straightforward: Will the gift arrive on time?

This is what separates diaspora gifting from an ordinary online purchase.

The buyer cannot inspect the package, call the rider using a Nigerian number or quickly replace an incorrect item. They depend on the gifting company to become their eyes, hands and presence on the ground.

Trust, payment adoption, addressing and last-mile logistics remain recurring barriers in African e-commerce. GSMA research identifies weak consumer trust and low digital-payment uptake as important challenges, while poor address systems and delivery networks make fulfilment harder and more expensive.

In other words, the diaspora customer may be abroad, but the final kilometre is still very Nigerian.

Why this is bigger than gifting

Diaspora gifting sits at the intersection of remittances, fintech, e-commerce and logistics.

The old model involved sending money home and asking a relative to buy the present. The newer model allows the buyer to choose the exact gift, pay from abroad, add a message and arrange local delivery directly to the recipient.

Within Africa, payment infrastructure is also improving. By 2025, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System had enabled real-time cross-border payments across 17 countries, connecting 14 national switches and more than 150 commercial banks. (African Export-Import Bank)

For gifting businesses, the opportunity is not merely international shipping. It is global ordering combined with local fulfilment.

The strongest diaspora-friendly services will make foreign payment simple, display delivery dates clearly, allow location pins and alternative phone numbers, provide WhatsApp updates and send photographs or confirmation after delivery.

They should also understand time zones. A customer ordering at 10 p.m. in Canada may need a quick answer even though it is early morning in Nigeria.

Love does not have to travel inside a suitcase

Nigerians abroad have always supported family members at home. What is changing is how that support is packaged.

A bank transfer can now become a money bouquet.

A birthday message can arrive inside a customised gift box.

A daughter in Manchester can choose her mother’s cake in Lagos. A brother in Toronto can arrange a graduation surprise in Abuja. A husband in Texas can send an anniversary gift without asking a cousin to “help him find something nice.”

The most successful diaspora gifting companies will not simply sell hampers, flowers or cakes.

They will sell something harder to put inside a box:

the feeling that distance did not make someone forget.