Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to give one-third of his wealth to charity as part of his succession plan, his daughter, Halima Dangote, has said.
Halima, a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, revealed this in an interview with Bloomberg published Tuesday. She said the billionaire had secured his family’s support to dedicate 33 per cent of his estate to philanthropy.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts Dangote’s net worth at $35.1 billion. If his wealth stays at that level, one-third would be about $11.7 billion.
Halima said her father sees philanthropy as a key part of his legacy and has made it part of the family’s long-term succession plans.
“He sort of put all the structure in place whereby we focus a lot on health and education. 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.
“That is how important it is to him because philanthropy needs to be in existence generation after generation.
“So giving back is part and parcel of what we do. We believe we’re here, that our business is successful because of the giving back and because of the philanthropic aspect. That is why the 33 per cent is important.
“And that is why he made an announcement and he asked myself, my two sisters and his mother to sign under that will that he is able to give that 33 per cent to humanity.”
The planned donation adds to Dangote’s long-running charity work through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, founded in 1994.
Halima said the foundation received a $1.25 billion endowment about a decade ago and has since received another $700 million.
About 70 per cent of its spending goes to Nigeria, 20 per cent to projects across Africa, while the rest supports initiatives elsewhere.
Its work covers health, education, nutrition and humanitarian relief. It has also partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and northern Nigerian state governments on efforts that helped eradicate wild poliovirus in Africa.
Dangote’s planned donation comes as billionaire philanthropy faces growing global attention. Though the 33 per cent pledge is below the 50 per cent threshold often linked to the Giving Pledge, it would rank among the biggest philanthropic commitments announced by an African billionaire.
Earlier this year, TIME named Dangote among the world’s most influential philanthropists in its first TIME100 Philanthropy list. The recognition cited the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which spends more than ₦50 billion each year on programmes across Africa.
