Denis Opudo
Alhaji Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa while Bill Gates is the second richest person worldwide according to the Forbes magazine. Dangote has not only remained the richest person on the continent but also outstanding industrial and philanthropist in Africa. In the recent time, he has disbursed N1.2 billion donation to the Bayero University for modern business school upgrading. Mr. Dangote’s effort in supporting Christened Dangote Business School has led to negotiation to affiliate it with the Harvard Business School. He noted that the school marked his contribution to the transformation of entrepreneurship learning in Nigeria.
Abdulahi Ganduje who is the Kano State Governor launched the Christened Dangote Business School located in Kano. Additional, Mr. Dangote in 1993 established the Dangote Foundation which is now the largest Sub Saharan Africa private foundation. In the last five years, the foundation has contributed more than $250 million funds for charity. The amount was meant to support several charitable causes in the country and in the continent. The four pillars of the foundation initiatives include disaster relief, health, education and economic empowerment.
Mr. Bill Gates is the Co-Chair of Gates Foundation and the Founder of Microsoft. He has acknowledged the contribution of Dangote foundation in supporting the global health mission. During the telephone conference organized by a different journalist from Africa, Mr. Gate was amazed by Aliko Dangote’s contribution. He emphasized that Mr. Aliko Dangote supported the global health using his own resources and time. Besides global health, Gate and Dangote foundations work together in supporting primary health care and nutrition in the developing countries.
Mr. Gate said that he is only aware of Dangote foundation in Africa who contributes towards charitable activities in the continent. He, however, accepted the possibility of some Africans supporting other sectors such as environment, education, and Agriculture. The Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation added that last month he spent 6 hours with six of the northern states. The video conferencing was conducted to help him track the progress of primary health care services. Parameters under focus were the supply chain, the staff development, vaccination among other interventions.
