The Dangote Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Dangote Group. The Foundation is responsible for contributing over $100 million in charitable funds to several causes in Nigeria and Africa over the past four years.
Contents
- History
- Activities in Nigeria
- Activities abroad
- Flooding relief in Nigeria
- Strategic partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- References
The primary aim of the foundation is to reduce the number of lives lost due to malnutrition and disease
The president of the foundation is Africa's richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. The Foundation is located at 1, Alfred Rewane road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
History
In 1997 the foundation was incorproated as a charity in Lagos. twenty years later, it has become the largest private Foundation in sub-Saharan Africa with the largest endowmwnt by a single donor. Aliko Dangote created the Aliko Dangote Foundation as a vehicle for philanthropy and corporate social responsibility, focusing on helping the less privileged. The organization started off being largely grant based but has evolved to operate and implement programs and has intervened in various areas, most notably health care and disaster relief.
In 2013 Aliko Dangote Foundation collaborated with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to work on eradicating polio and strenghtening routine immunization in northern NIgeria. As a direct result of this ongoing patnership, there has not been any new case of polio since July 2014, but in 2016, new cases were found.
In 2014, a new board of trustees was appointed to oversee the Foundation and Aliko Dangote endowed the Foundation with 220 bilion Naira, the equivalent of $1.25 billion dollars. The board Appointed a new management team in January 2015, with a clear mandate to develop a new strategy.
Activities in Nigeria
Some of the Foundation's activities in Nigeria include, N1 billion for Nigerian universities including N500 million for development of a business school in Bayero University and N100 million for the proposed Otuoke University in Bayelsa State.
The Foundation also disbursed N230 million to women in Kogi State as a micro grant as part of the Kogi Human Capital Development initiative.
In order to alleviate the suffering of communities in Jos suffering from effects of a prolonged ethno-religious crises in 2010, the Dangote Foundation made a donation of relief materials worth N50 million to the community leaders.
Activities abroad
The Foundation donated $2 million to the World Food Programme as part of efforts to help Pakistani nationals devastated by floods in the year 2010. Speaking on this donation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said, "The hearts of all Africans go out to the people of Pakistan as they go through this ordeal. Africa is not only a recipient of humanitarian aid, but is also able to help her brothers and sisters in Pakistan and elsewhere where there is suffering. Helping our family, in this case our global family is part of Africa’s traditional values.”
Flooding relief in Nigeria
The President of the Dangote Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote was made the chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief. The Committee raised in excess of N11.35 billion, of which Dangote Foundation contributed N2.5 billion, an amount higher than the entire contribution from the 36 state governors in Nigeria.
Strategic partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
In 2013, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it had entered into a strategic partnership with the Dangote Foundation to eradicate polio in Nigeria.