Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi Philanthropy

Philanthropy

Sheikh Al-Amoudi is a major philanthropist who has committed significant funds in support of healthcare and sport in Saudi Arabia, the US, Europe and Africa. His charitable involvement in Ethiopia includes the construction and operation of a 140-bed hospital in Addis Ababa and he has supported local Ethiopian programmes for the visually impaired, the disabled, children’s health and poverty alleviation as well as provided funds for overseas scholarships and the arts, including half the cost of the Harari National Cultural Centre.

One of the issues of most concern to him has been AIDS which has affected North East Africa much as it has been a scourge in the rest of the Continent. His $20m commitment (over a decade) in partnership with the William J. Clinton Foundation has been designed specifically to target resources at this problem under the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). This initiative has emphasised an integrated approach to healthcare in the developing world.

He is committed, as a Muslim, to the fundamental concept of ‘zakat’, that is, that a significant proportion of his wealth should be returned to the community. The broad thrust of his philanthropy is directed at practical measures to improve the physical well-being of the population through direct investment or example.

In his adoptive country of Saudi Arabia, the Sheikh has endowed the Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi Center for Breast Cancer at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science & Technology). He has also funded Chairs at KAUST in Biomedical Practice Ethics, Diabetic Food Research, Viral Hemorrhagic Fever & Water Networks Research.

Although reluctant to speak of the amount of his donations since the point of giving is that it be done for the sake of the other and not for the donor, he is keen that others of his and all other faiths should follow the same principle of generosity of funds and of spirit for the greater good.

In Africa, his commitment goes beyond Ethiopia to Central and East Africa more generally. He sponsored the CECAFA Cup, Africa’s oldest football competition, from 2004 to 2007 to the tune of $1.5m and it was renamed in his honour the Al-Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup in 2005 and 2006. His support for sport has extended outwards to the Ethiopian diaspora overseas where he also contributed significant funds to the Ethiopian Sports Federation of North America (ESFNA) for many years. He supports St. George FC in Addis Ababa.