“It is with the blessings of the Almighty, my family, colleagues, the support of my community and the backing of my conscience, that I announce the launch of the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative, with an Africa Fund endowment of USD100million every year starting from this year, 2021; USD$50million to Nigeria and USD$50million to the rest of our beloved continent. Over the years as a corporate, and through the BUA Foundation, we have been actively involved in corporate philanthropy in various sectors – from health, education, community development, water & sanitation, sports, and even more recently, our work on COVID-19.”
Those words marked the beginning of yet another initiative aimed at improving the African continent.
A similar gesture was launched by yet another Nigerian Billionaire in the person of Tony Elumelu, in 2015, with an annual grant of $100 million to help 10,000 entrepreneurs over 10 years.
Though, with a focus on social development, the fund (ASR AFRICA) is made up of $50m to Nigeria, and the rest $50m to the rest of the continent.
The funds are specifically geared towards improving education, health and other social development needs across the continent.
“Our broad focus is equipping facilities, our researchers, healthcare practitioners and community-level service providers, with the aim of providing sustainable solutions for generations to come.”
The ASR Africa Initiative also announced grants of N1billion each to six Nigerian universities across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
These grants would go toward the initiation and upgrading of infrastructure, where applicable in the benefitting universities, namely the Ahmadu Bello University, the University of Maiduguri, the University of Nigeria, the University of Benin, the University of Ilorin and the University of Ibadan.
These grants, according to Rabiu, would be directed to projects that will be delivered by the ASR Africa Initiative for the project duration.
He further noted that “as the world tries to claw its way back to business as usual, the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative’s Africa Fund for Social Development & Renewal aims to be a modest reminder to us all that until our health, education and other development issues are fixed, business as usual in these times, means business as brutal. We pledge to continue to do what we can to support ongoing efforts by various governments to bridge the development divide across Africa.”
With these initiatives triggered by Nigerians, no doubt, the African continent is on its way to being the true bride of the world.
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