The billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, says he wants to become the biggest philanthropist in Africa, asides being the continent's richest man. He said the motivation gave birth to Aliko Dangote Foundation, on whose platform a total of N2.5bn had been disbursed to 256,500 women across Kano, Lagos, Jigawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
“I do not only want to be known as Africa’s richest man but the biggest philanthropist. I will continue to use my resources and my voice to help shape a better Nigeria, and Africa as a whole,” the businessman said.
The Aliko Dangote Foundation flagged off its one-off and unconditional micro-grants programme in Niger State with 25,000 disadvantaged women as beneficiaries bringing the total number of women beneficiaries to 256,500 across seven states of the federation.
Dangote at the inauguration of the foundation’s “one-off and unconditional micro-grants” programme held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna, Niger State, said the scheme targets 25,000 disadvantaged and vulnerable women in Niger State, who will each be given N10,000 cash “to boost their household income generation.”
He said his foundation had earmarked N10bn for the empowerment of vulnerable women in the 774 local government areas of the country.
Alhaji Abubakar Bello, governor of Niger State, while lauding Dangote for his generosity, urged the beneficiaries of the N10,000 cash “to use it to start small businesses so the foundation would be pleased to do more.”
The Foundation’s Executive Director and daughter to the Chairman, Hajiya Halima Aliko Dangote, said the Foundation was poised to help lift the status of womanhood in the country, adding: “If you empower a woman, you empower the whole nation.”
She stated that women have always bear the brunt of the harsh economic reality in the country and the Aliko Dangote Foundation reasoned that they should be the target of such critical intervention as the disbursement with the hope that the benefits will cascade down the family line with women as the maker of the home and improve the family wellbeing.
