Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has made provisions to donate one-third of his wealth to charity as part of his family’s succession and legacy plans, his daughter Halima Dangote has disclosed.
Halima, a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, made the revelation in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday. She said her father has secured the full support of his family to dedicate 33 per cent of his estate to philanthropy.
With Dangote’s current net worth estimated at $35.1 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the planned donation would translate to approximately $11.7 billion for charitable causes.
According to Halima, philanthropy is central to her father’s vision. She explained that the arrangement aligns with Islamic principles (often referred to as one-third in certain inheritance contexts) and has been formally documented.“He actually donated 25 per cent to the foundation. If you look at it, it is what we call in Sharia Code in Islam; it means he has donated 33 per cent of his whole inheritance to his foundation,” she said.
She added that Dangote insisted his daughters and his mother sign the will to affirm the commitment. “That is how important it is to him because philanthropy needs to be in existence generation after generation,” Halima noted.
The Aliko Dangote Foundation, established in 1994, was endowed with $1.25 billion about a decade ago and has received an additional $700 million since then. Roughly 70 per cent of its spending goes to Nigeria, 20 per cent to other parts of Africa, and the rest to global initiatives.
Focus areas include health, education, nutrition, and humanitarian relief. The foundation has partnered with organisations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and played a key role in the eradication of wild poliovirus in Africa.
This planned 33 per cent commitment is one of the largest philanthropic pledges by an African billionaire, even as it falls short of the 50 per cent Giving Pledge benchmark. Earlier this year, TIME magazine named Dangote among the world’s most influential philanthropists.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com