The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), on Wednesday, empowered a total of 16,000 women across the 16 local government areas of Kwara State with N10,000 each to boost their petty trade or start new businesses.

Deputy Governor of the state, who stood in for the Governor, Abdulraham Abdulrasaq, lauded the ADF empowerment programme, held at Moro Local Government area of the state, during a total of N160m was distributed to beneficiaries, appreciated the foundation for the initiative which will reduce the rural-urban migration.

“We want to encourage people to stay in the rural areas and add value to the respective lives and also to the state economy. This indeed is a noble gesture,” he said.

Executive Director, Government and Strategic Relations of Dangote Group, Eng. Ahmed Mansur, this investment “will circulate well in this rural areas and also boost the economy of the state eventually…We are going to do this in all the local governments in Nigeria.”

Also speaking, Chief executive of ADF, Zouera Youssoufou, said the empowerment programme is an ongoing activity of the foundation focused “on women, because we all need to note that once you support a woman, you are supporting the whole family, and the multiplier effect of that will be very great…

“We have done several states in the past and today we are also doing for Kwara, empowering 1,000 women in each of the 16 local governments. Each of the women gets 10,000 each, to be disbursed immediately and concluded within the next three weeks across the state…

It would be recalled that the ADF recently launched a major philanthropic programme in Zamfara State, distributing food items worth several millions of naira to support victims of banditry.

Photo caption: From left, Managing Director/ CEO, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou,  a beneficiary, and Olomu of Aran, Oba Abdulrraheem Adeoti,  at the Official  Flag- Off  of  the Dangote Micro-Grants  Programme in Moro Local Government  Area, Kwara State on Wednesday March 31, 2021.