Halima Dangote: Like Father, Like Daughter
Beautiful Halima Dangote takes after her billionaire father, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in so many ways.
Also, there is no gainsaying the fact that she is blessed with a lot of business sense. Besides, she is also proving to be a philanthropist to beat.
Halima, Executive Director, Aliko Dangote Foundation, has also been carving her own niche in the area of service to humanity.
Interestingly, this is fast launching her into the global glare and becoming a global citizen. Asides her role as Executive Director of Dangote Foundation and member of Boards of several humanitarian organisations, Halima and some like minds, including Hadeel Ibrahim, daughter of Sudanese billionaire, Mo Ibrahim; Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former American President, Bill Clinton and Uzodinma Iweala, son of Nigeria’s former Coordinating Minister of Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, are transforming the world’s understanding of Africa, its Diaspora and the role of people of African descent in the world through the Africa Center, a New York-based leading non-profit institution focused on the intersection of African policy, business and culture.
Halima, as the Board President of the Africa Centre, has been at the forefront of the Center’s ‘Capital Campaign’ project with plans to raise funds to finish the construction of its 70,000-square-foot space, situated on the first three floors of its condominium building located on Fifth Avenue at the intersection of Harlem and the Museum Mile, a location that embodies the dynamism and diversity of Africa and its Diaspora in the heart of New York City.
On completion, the Center will serve as the hub for the exchange of ideas around culture, business and policy related to the continent.
Last Tuesday, Halima used her clout to attract scores of Nigerian heavyweights to New York for the Center’s this year’s signature policy and business event at the Future Africa Forum.
The seminal forum is a platform for sharing new ideas and strategies that challenge the structures and systems that support onedimensional narratives of the continent, and that inform policies and ultimately affect the lives of African people, those of African descent, and the future of Africa.
The invitation-only, private event, which featured a fireside chat with a stellar line up of Aliko Dangote, Mo Ibrahim and Bill Gates about the future of African business, had in attendance Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Kwara State Governor Abdurahman Abdulrasaq; Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun; Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki; Trade and Industry Minister Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; notable billionaires like Femi Otedola and Wale Tinubu; Olusegun Awolowo; British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng; Naomi Campbell and music star, Teni the entertainer- all present to Halima and her team.
Dangote, through his Foundation, announced a transformative $20 million donation to advance and accelerate the Center’s capital campaign and support its ongoing operations.
The Center also secured a new $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at the Future Africa Forum. The Gates Foundation grant is directed to the Center’s capital campaign and for the development of its policy initiatives.
Other foundations, corporations, and individuals have provided leadership support for the capital campaign including Mo Ibrahim, who has given over $7 million to The Africa Center in recent years.
Since launching its public programming in January 2019, The Africa Center has already attracted and engaged thousands of visitors in a series of inaugural performances, installations, talks, readings, book signings, and film screenings.
Teranga, a fast-casual restaurant located on the Center’s first floor highlights food from the continent and hosts tastings and cooking demonstrations in line with the Center’s programming and mission.