The Nigerian business mogul and billionaire, Aliko Dangote, is considering stretching his philanthropic foundation to Ethiopia in order to reach vulnerable communities with the likes of health, education and nutritional supports.
Zouera Youssoufou, managing director and CEO of Dangote Foundation, based in Lagos, who was in Addis Ababa earlier this week to launch “Africa Business Coalition on Health – ABCHealth,” a home grown coalition of businesses, told The Reporter that Dangote’s foundation is looking to come to Ethiopia within the coming two years. “For Aliko Dangote Foundation, health is our priority. When people are not healthy, they are not going to be educated and we are not going to have an economic prosperity. Hence, health is the bedrock of life.”
With that effort, According to Youssoufou, Dangote Foundation is looking at ways to lodge its presence in Ethiopia along with the likes of Tanzania, Senegal, Zambia, and elsewhere in Africa; where it has a business presence and operations launched over the years. However, Youssoufou said that the foundation will be coming to Ethiopia probably a year or two after finalizing what it has started in Nigeria.
So far, Dangote Foundation has spent USD 1.5 billion over humanitarian engagements. In an effort to pull together resources, the ABCHealth coalition brought bigwigs of the African private sector that will work in areas of public private partnerships (PPP). The coalition will invite businesses to join on a membership basis.
Youssoufou leads the foundation with a view to improving the health, nutrition and edifying effects for the less fortunate, primarily in Nigeria and to the rest of Africa where Dangote’s businesses are stretched-out. Youssoufou is responsible for the Foundation’s strategies and provides an overall management oversight for the Foundation. She reports to the board of directors of the foundation.
When it comes to the cement business Dangote’s group operates, Youssoufou and the rest of her team opted not to comment on that. The USD 500 million plant, with an annual capacity of producing 2.5 million metric tons of cement, has suffered mob attacks. The killing of Deep Kamara, country manager for Dangote Cement in Ethiopia along with a number of his staff believed to have gotten into the intended half-a-billion dollar additional investment remain in vain.
