Education: Dangote announces $700m support for Nigerian students

Omeiza Bilal with agency

The chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said the Dangote Foundation will spend $700 million on educating Nigerians in the next 10 years.

Dangote, who disclosed this Sunday at the 2025 Doha Forum in Qatar, added that the Fund will help support over 155,000 Nigerians in both secondary schools and tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

During a panel session with Bill Gates and Sheikha Al Mayassa, he talked about how new ideas, charity, and culture can create better opportunities in Africa and other parts of the world.

Dangote said the investment will help reduce the number of children who are not in school and will train more people with the skills needed to grow Nigeria’s economy.

He said, “Africa has about 1.4 billion people, so partnership is very important. That’s why we worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight polio in Nigeria. Many children are out of school, so next week we will launch a $700 million educationfund. We are doing this because Africa faces many challenges, especially in training people.”

Dangote also said that Dangote Petrochemical has already trained more than 50,000 Nigerians to help run the company’s 160,000-barrel-per-day refinery.

He explained that these skilled workers will continue to be useful as the refinery expands, and his investment in education will help provide even more talent for Nigeria’s industries.