Tobias Sylvester
Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has empowered a total of 16,000 women in all the 16 local governments area of Kwara State with N160 million.
In a statement on Wednesday, the foundation said each of the women were given the sum of N10,000 each, to help boost their petty trade and also start new businesses.
A total of N160,000 million were given to the rural women in a funfair event, held in Moro Local Government area of Kwara State on Wednesday.
The deputy governor of the state, Kayode Alabi, who stood in for the governor, Abdulraham Abdulrasaq, lauded the ADF empowerment programme and described it as part of the key economic tools needed to boost the socioeconomic activities of the rural areas and ultimately the state.
He said: “This empowerment programme will impact positively on the socioeconomic activity of our state. We don’t want people to come and unnecessarily populate the urban areas.
“We want to encourage people to stay in the rural areas and add value to the respective lives and also to the state economy.”
Dangote’s Group Executive Director, Government and Strategic Relations, Ahmed Mansur, who represented Aliko Dangote said the investment in the rural areas would eventually boost the economy of the state, adding that they planned to empower all local governments in Nigeria.
In the same vein, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ADF, Zouera Youssoufou, said all rural women in the local governments, across the country would benefit from the empowerment programme.
