By Kester Omu
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote is set to disburse small grants to one million Nigerian women with the aid of the mobile phone and his company’s initiative to use biometric data and mobile banking.
The Nigerian industrialist disclosed on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States of America, where Michael Bloomberg inaugurated its first Global Business Forum with an astounding line up of global innovators.
Dangote, who was earlier in a panel on ‘technology’s ability to disrupt poverty, with other innovators and world leaders, with David Rubenstein, CEO of the Carlyle Group moderating, believes that this move will empower the average Nigerian woman.
Though, the mode for selecting the women was not disclosed, but it is said that Dangote made the announcement following talks by former US president Bill Clinton, French president Emmanuel Macron, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Alibaba chairman Jack Ma.
Thereafter, Aliko Dangote took the stage with Bill Gates of Microsoft, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, and Masayoshi Son of SoftBank.
Dangote and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also cited their collaborated effort in fighting polio by vaccinating seven million children using mobile trackers.