The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), chaired by Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, has committed N1.5 billion to support post-graduate students of the Dangote Business School at Bayero University, Kano (BUK).
The landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Tuesday at the school’s main auditorium, providing N300 million annually over five years in scholarship awards for eligible MBA, entrepreneurship, and management postgraduate students.
Under the agreement, each beneficiary will receive N150,000 per session, equivalent to 50 percent of the current N300,000 tuition fee, starting with the 2024/25 academic session. The Business School currently has 1,225 students, including 696 fresh and 529 returning postgraduate students.
The MoU was jointly signed by Hajiya Mariya Aliko Dangote, Member of the ADF Board of Trustees, and BUK Vice Chancellor, Prof. Haruna Musa. At the ceremony, Dangote, represented by Mariya Aliko Dangote, highlighted the foundation’s vision of building human capital capable of translating knowledge into enterprise, innovation, and employment.
“Our focus is on strengthening business and entrepreneurship education. This scholarship deepens our commitment to the Dangote Business School by directly investing in the next generation of business leaders and change-makers,” she said.
Prof. Musa lauded the initiative, noting that it comes at a critical time for many families and strengthens the Business School’s role as a hub for entrepreneurial and management talent development, particularly for women increasingly taking leadership roles in enterprise.
Beneficiary Khalid Bababubu, a manufacturing entrepreneur pursuing an MBA in Finance and Investment, expressed gratitude on behalf of students. “Education is the bedrock of national development, and we will not take this scholarship for granted,” he said.
Titled the ‘MHF Dangote Graduate Business Scholarship,’ the programme represents a strategic shift in ADF’s long-standing partnership with the Business School, moving from infrastructure support to direct investment in people and enterprise leadership development.
This scholarship initiative is separate from the foundation’s ongoing nationwide STEM education interventions, which target science and technology pathways at secondary and undergraduate levels. The Dangote Business School scholarship focuses exclusively on postgraduate students, aiming to enhance entrepreneurship, management capacity, and enterprise leadership.
Since commissioning the Dangote Business School complex in 2018, ADF has supported its facility maintenance. The new scholarship marks a deliberate shift from hard infrastructure to soft infrastructure, directly investing in students who will drive enterprise, job creation, and economic growth.
The programme applies to both new and returning students, with newly admitted students receiving automatic tuition reductions at registration and returning students eligible for rebates if they have already paid in full. Any unutilised funds in the first year will be retained within the school’s development envelope to improve learning infrastructure and digital academic capacity.
The Aliko Dangote Foundation’s mission is to promote social change through strategic investments that improve health, education, and empowerment opportunities. Bayero University Kano, a leading Nigerian institution, continues to maintain excellence in teaching, learning, and research, with the Dangote Business School serving as a centre of postgraduate excellence in business, entrepreneurship, and management.