Following the endowment of the Dangote Foundation to the tune of $1.25billion by the founder/ President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, the foundation has unveiled new logo and name, which is now called Aliko Dangote Foundation.
The endowment is for the period of 10 years.
The foundation which was previously focused on projects such as construction of boreholes and Kano feeding programme, has defined its new strategic focus to include health, education, economic empowerment and disaster relief.
According to the MD/CEO, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Ms. Zouera Youssoufou, the $1.25billion endowment has made the foundation the biggest foundation in the sub-Saharan Africa.
The foundation, which was largely depended on funds from Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, corporate social responsibility initiatives from the group and the founder’s goodwill at a time, will now run its operation independently.
Youssoufou said, “the actual change happened in 2014, when we went from an organisation where sometimes will be funded by cement, sugar and CSR projects from the group and sometimes, the one Aliko wants to do by himself.”
To move away from companies within the group to fund the operation of the foundation, we wanted to really focusing on the project Aliko wants to do that actually separate from his philanthropy from these organizations’ CSR.
In 2014, Aliko Dangote endowed the Foundation with the equivalent of $1.25billon – making Dangote Foundation the largest private Foundation in sub-Saharan Africa, she said.
According to her, the Foundation new strategic focus areas as follows health, education, economic empower and disaster relief.
Health is to minimize disease burden through improved access to quality healthcare and nutrition with a particular emphasis on children, while education is to improve access to quality education for talented young people to achieve their potential.
For the economic empowerment, the foundation will support the poor and enterprising to sustainably increase their income generation capacities.
Meanwhile, disaster relief is defined to be responsive to people affected by disasters in helping them get back on their feet.
On the different between Dangote Cement CSR focus and Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Foundation MD/CEO said “all projects of Dangote Cement CSR are located in communities in which they have factories such as community relations, health, education, employment, infrastructure, water, electricity, roads and buildings (schools, hospitals).”
“Aliko Dangote Foundation projects and funds are allocated based on need such as health (including nutrition), education, empowerment, humanitarian crisis and disaster relief,” she said.
Going forward, Aliko Dangote Foundation is designed to function like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others endowed foundation across the world, Youssoufou stated.
It would be recalled that, the Foundation, from inception, had used the Dangote Group logo and colour, however, the foundation unveiled its own logo and colour to align with its strategic focus.
The new logo comes in four distinctive colours- red, yellow, blue and green. The logo is designed to represent Africa hence the use of the continent map.
While Yellow represents optimism, nourishing , hospitable, comforting and illuminating, red signifies energetic, dynamism, powerful and assertive.
According to Zakari Momodu, Project Director, Aliko Dangote Foundation, blue in the logo is a representation of credibility, professionalism and reliability while green is nature, health, fresh and reassuring.
“We want to create and position Africa whose people are healthier, better educated and empowered. A shift towards African helping Africans and sometimes Africans helping the world,” Momodu said.
The foundation said its core values set it apart and it is to engage, focus and invest.
