The daughter of Africa’s richest man Halima Dangote in a Bloomberg interview on Tuesday has revealed that her father, Aliko Dangote will give one-third of his wealth to charity as part of his succession plan.
Halima, a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, said the billionaire secured family approval to dedicate 33 percent of his estate to philanthropy, explained that the plan reflects Islamic inheritance principles and her father’s belief that giving back must continue across generations.
Explaining the decision, Halima said her father views philanthropy as central to his legacy and built it into the family’s succession plan. “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.
She stressed that philanthropy must continue across generations. “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.”
Halima added that her father formalised the pledge with family consent. “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.”
Dangote’s fortune stands at $35.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the pledge equals about $11.7 billion if his wealth remains at that level.
The foundation, created in 1994, received $1.25 billion a decade ago and later gained $700 million more. It spends most of its funds in Nigeria, supports projects across Africa, and backs global programmes.
Its work covers health, education, nutrition, and humanitarian relief. Partnerships with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Nigerian state governments helped eradicate wild poliovirus in Africa.
Dangote’s commitment ranks among the largest ever by an African billionaire, earlier this year, TIME magazine named him one of the world’s most influential philanthropists in its inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list.
