Dangote’s heirs back plan to give one-third of his $35.1 billion wealth to charity
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to leave one-third of his wealth to charity, with his children and mother backing the arrangement as part of his succession plan.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to leave one-third of his wealth to charity, with his children and mother backing the arrangement as part of his succession plan.
Dangote’s daughter, Halima Dangote, who is a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, disclosed the plan in an interview with Bloomberg, saying the billionaire considers philanthropy an important part of his legacy.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s wealth is currently estimated at $35.1 billion. If his fortune remains at that level, one-third would be worth approximately $11.6 billion, making the planned charitable allocation one of the largest philanthropic commitments by an African billionaire.
Halima said Dangote asked her, her two sisters and their mother to sign the arrangement allowing him to give 33% of his wealth to humanity.
She explained that the commitment is consistent with Islamic inheritance principles and reflects the family’s long-standing approach to philanthropy.
Its activities have included interventions in health, nutrition and humanitarian relief, as well as partnerships with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and northern Nigerian state governments to support the eradication of wild polio in Nigeria. Africa was declared free of wild poliovirus transmission in 2020.
Dangote’s planned charitable allocation comes at a time when wealth inequality remains a major issue across Africa. Oxfam reported in 2025 that the average income of Africa’s richest 1% had grown five times faster than that of the bottom 50% since 2020.
Only a small number of African billionaires have joined the Giving Pledge, including South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe and his wife Precious, Zimbabwean couple Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa, and Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji.
Dangote’s planned charitable giving builds on a philanthropy record spanning more than a decade. In March 2025, Aliko Dangote was named among the world’s most influential philanthropists in TIME Magazine’s inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list.
His charitable activities date back even further. In July 2014, the Dangote Group said Dangote had donated about N30 billion to charity across Africa over the preceding two years, with the foundation planning to expand its interventions across the continent.
