Dangote Attends Bloomberg New Economic Forum

The chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has during a Bloomberg New Economic Forum stressed the need for private sector operators to contribute atleast 1% of their profits to address the challenges confronting the health sector in Nigeria.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote while responding to questions directed at him by a moderator, Francine Lacqua, stated that this contributions from private sectors should be separated from the tax paid on their earnings.

The meeting which was hosted by Dangote Group was conducted online and had in attendance Other speakers alongside Dangote, who aired their opinion during the Bloomberg NEF session. The speakers included the chairman of Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Flagship Pioneering, Dr. Noubar Afeyan, among others.

When asked if funding was one of the main barriers to actually dealing with health crisis effectively, Alhaji Aliko Dangote responded in the affirmative. According to him as a quota of Aliko Dangote Foundation, is about to sponsor a bill where a separate tax aside corporate tax will be imposed on on private sectors operators; so that it can be used to finance health system.

He stated that government can’t single handedly fund the health sector. That is the reason why private sectors, government and foundations have to collaborate together to fund the health sector because a healthy population breeds a healthy economy.

While speaking on the COVID-19 pandemic, Alhaji Aliko Dangote noted that the virusis an eye-opener as it really affected both humans and the economy. He explained that his foundation campaigned against the pandemic by collaborating with the private sector and as a result of which $112 million was raised to address the pandemic.