Dangote Foundation broadens horizon for global impact

The Aliko Dangote Foundation, formerly known as Dangote Foundation, has broadened its strategic intervention focus to include health, education, economic empowerment and disaster relief.

This follows the endowment of the foundation with $1.25 billion by the president of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. Ms. Zouera Youssoufou, CEO of the foundation, said the endowment which is for 10 years has enabled the foundation to shift its focus from just embarking on projects like constructing boreholes and Kano feeding programme to embrace social, economic and health issues with an Afrocentric and global impact.

She said the foundation, which previously depended largely on funds from Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives from the group, and the founder’s goodwill sometimes, will now run its operation independently.

Youssoufou further explained that the focus on health is to help minimise disease burden through improved access to quality healthcare and nutrition with a particular emphasis on children, while education is to improve access to quality education for talented young people to achieve their potential.

For the economic empowerment, the foundation will support the poor and enterprising to sustainably increase their income generation capacities. Meanwhile, disaster relief is designed to be responsive to people affected by disasters in helping them get back on their feet.

All projects of Dangote Cement CSR are located in communities in which they have factories such as community relations, health, education, employment, infrastructure, water, electricity, roads and buildings (schools, hospitals).” “Aliko Dangote Foundation projects and funds are allocated based on need such as health (including nutrition), education, empowerment, humanitarian crisis and disaster relief,” she said.

She also explained that the Aliko Dangote Foundation is designed to function like that of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other endowed foundations across the world. The new logo comes in four distinctive colours- red, yellow, blue and green. The logo is also designed to represent Africa hence the use of the continent map.

“We want to create and position Africa whose people are healthier, better educated and empowered. A shift towards African helping Africans and sometimes Africans helping the world,” Momodu stressed.