Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has been recognized in the inaugural 2025 TIME100 Philanthropy list, which honors the world’s 100 most impactful philanthropic leaders.
The Chairman of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and President/CEO of Dangote Industries Limited is the sole Nigerian honoree on the prestigious list.
Published Tuesday by TIME Magazine, the list categorizes influential figures into Titans, Leaders, Trailblazers, and Innovators. Dangote was named among 23 global “Titans” alongside renowned philanthropists like Michael Bloomberg, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, and Melinda Gates.
The Dangote Group’s statement highlighted the industrialist’s dual legacy of business success and humanitarian work: “TIME highlighted Dangote’s remarkable rise to wealth, having built a fortune of $23.9bn through ventures in cement, agriculture, and oil refining in Nigeria. However, his philanthropic efforts are equally noteworthy.”
In 2014, Dangote endowed his foundation with $1.25 billion to drive transformative change across Africa. The foundation currently spends about $35 million annually on initiatives spanning nutrition, health, education, and economic empowerment.
“Investing in nutrition, health, education, and economic empowerment is our contribution to setting Africans up for success,” Dangote stated.
Among its flagship programs is a $100 million multi-year initiative to combat severe childhood malnutrition. The foundation also played a pivotal role in Africa’s polio eradication, partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on vaccination efforts that contributed to the World Health Organization’s 2020 declaration of a polio-free Africa.
Education remains a key focus area, with recent donations including:
– A $10 million grant to the Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology in Kano
– A record-breaking N1.2 billion hostel donation to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (the largest individual donation to a Nigerian university at the time in 2019)
– The “Mu Shuka Iri” early childhood education program training local women as community educators
Reflecting on his philanthropic journey, Dangote shared: “My mother instilled in me the ethos of giving back, which inspired my philanthropy 30 years ago. I trust my three daughters will continue this legacy.”
The billionaire added his aspirational vision: “I want to be known not just as Africa’s richest person but also as its biggest philanthropist. We need to create the next generation of African leaders.”
