Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, intends to donate one-third of his wealth to charity as part of his succession plans, according to his daughter, Halima Dangote.
Halima, who serves as a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, made the disclosure in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday. She said the billionaire had already received the backing of his family for the arrangement.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote is worth an estimated $35.1 billion, meaning one-third of his fortune would be approximately $11.7 billion.
Halima explained that philanthropy has always been a key part of her father’s vision and has been incorporated into the family’s long-term plans.
“He sort of put all the structure in place whereby we focus a lot on health and education. He actually donated 25 percent to the foundation. If you look at it, it is what we call in Sharia Code in Islam; it means he has donated 33 percent 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 percent 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 percent to humanity.”
The planned donation is expected to further strengthen the work of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which was established in 1994.
Halima also revealed that the foundation received a $1.25 billion endowment about a decade ago and has since been supported with an additional $700 million in funding.
