Billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote plans to channel 33 per cent of his estate into philanthropic initiatives as part of his long-term succession strategy, securing his family’s full backing for the multibillion-pound pledge.
With Dangote’s net worth currently estimated at $35.1 billion (£27.3 billion) by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the bequest would allocate roughly $11.7 billion (£9.1 billion) to charitable causes. The commitment places the Nigerian industrialist among the world’s leading individual donors, marking one of the largest philanthropic commitments ever announced by an African billionaire.
Details of the estate plan were revealed by his daughter, Halima Dangote, a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, in an interview published by Bloomberg on Tuesday. She explained that charitable giving is central to her father’s vision for his legacy and the family’s future operations.
“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,” she said.
Halima noted that the arrangement aligns with Islamic principles: “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… 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.”
Established in 1994, the Aliko Dangote Foundation focuses its interventions on health, education, nutrition, and humanitarian relief. The organisation received a $1.25 billion endowment a decade ago and has since been injected with a further $700 million. Around 70 per cent of its expenditure is directed within Nigeria, with 20 per cent spent across the wider African continent and 10 per cent allocated internationally.
The foundation’s work, which includes high-profile collaborations with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and northern Nigerian state authorities that helped eradicate wild poliovirus in Africa, currently accounts for an annual spend of over ₦50 billion (£26 million). That track record earned Dangote a place on TIME magazine’s inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list earlier this year.