TheCable

Aliko Dangotee, chairman of Dangote group and Africa’s richest man, says he plans to reach out to 1 million malnourished children in Nigeria by 2021.

Speaking at the formal launch of the Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) project in Lagos, Dangote said Nigeria should own and lead its own development.

The billionaire, who was represented by Zouera Youssoufou, CEO Aliko Dangote Foundation, acknowlegded that his team may not be able to reach all the 2.5 million children, but with strong partnerships with other agencies and donors, all the children can be reached.

“One of our biggest focus is malnutrition. The fact that we are trying to reach 500,000 children in the next three years and a million by 2021 because of this this project that we are doing together is also how do we make sure that the chidren who survive severe malnutrition can grow.

“Its a spectrum, I call it extreme severe problem.We actually have millions of children facing malnutrition in Nigeria. We can’t reach all of them, but together we can bring those numbers down.”

Youssoufou said Dangote’s role on both the public and the private sector sides of the divide compliments each other.

Dangote, who set up the largest private foundation in sub-Saharan Africa with an endowment of $1.25 billion, said the private and public sectors must work together to deliver on nutritionals goals in the country.

In 2016, Dangote had said he seeks to be not just Africa’s richest man, but the continent’s biggest philatrophist, and has set up a N20 billion fund into improving health and nutrition in Nigeria.

The SAPFF project, which was put together by Technoserve, seeks majorly to battle malnutrition via fortification of foods consumed in Nigeria.

The programme seeks to bring businesses, government, civil society organisations and donors to achieve a common goal, especially as regards stunting and other malnutrition consequences in Nigeria.