Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has concluded plans to donate one-third of his wealth to charity as part of a carefully structured succession plan, according to his daughter, Halima Dangote.
Halima, who serves as a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, disclosed this in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday. She said the billionaire had already secured the support of his family to dedicate 33 per cent of his estate to philanthropic causes.
Based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth is currently estimated at $35.1 billion. If that valuation remains unchanged, one-third of his fortune would amount to about $11.7 billion.
Explaining the decision, Halima said philanthropy has always been at the heart of her father’s vision and has been formally incorporated into 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 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 longstanding charitable efforts through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which was established in 1994.
Halima revealed that the Foundation received an endowment of $1.25 billion about a decade ago and has since attracted an additional $700 million in funding.
According to her, about 70 per cent of the Foundation’s spending is devoted to projects in Nigeria, while 20 per cent goes to programmes across Africa. The remaining funds are used to support initiatives in other parts of the world.
The Foundation focuses on health, education, nutrition and humanitarian relief. It has also partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and state governments in northern Nigeria in efforts that contributed to the eradication of wild poliovirus in Africa.
Dangote’s planned donation comes at a time of increasing global interest in billionaire philanthropy. Although the proposed 33 per cent allocation is below the 50 per cent benchmark commonly linked to the Giving Pledge, it would still rank among the largest charitable commitments ever announced by an African billionaire.
Earlier this year, TIME magazine named Dangote among the world’s most influential philanthropists in its inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list, recognising the work of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which spends more than ₦50 billion every year on programmes across Africa.
