A NEW breed of philanthropists pouring their fortunes into the developing
world are behind a doubling of charitable giving by Britain’s rich.
The new Giving List, tied to The Sunday Times Rich List, shows tycoons using
their profits to fund teachers in Rwanda, Aids treatment in Mozambique and
the purchase of swathes of Amazon rainforest the size of London to save from
loggers.
The projects have contributed to a 97% increase in the donations from the
leading 30 philanthropists among the richest 1,000 people.
Many of the tycoons are approaching their philanthropy as they would a
business deal.
They are bypassing the traditional route of giving money as emergency aid
through established charities, instead striking deals direct with African
and Asian governments to ensure the money produces clear returns in
education, health and improved living conditions.
The giveaway is being led by Christopher Hohn, 41, a City hedge fund manager,
who has given £235.8m in humanitarian aid. The figure is more than twice his
remaining fortune of £110m, giving him the highest ever Giving List score of
214%. He has achieved this by diverting profits from his fund directly to a
charitable foundation run by his American-born wife, Jamie Cooper-Hohn.
Hohn, the son of a car mechanic, who made his fortune before launching his
foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund, is due to return to Uganda and
Tanzania next month to inspect existing projects. His wife is at present in
Ethiopia working to help prevent children of Aids victims being
institutionalised in orphanages.
The tycoon giving away the most is Sir Tom Hunter, 46, the Scottish sportswear
billionaire who started his career selling trainers from the back of a van.
He has pledged to donate more than £1 billion over his lifetime.
In July Hunter will visit Africa to coordinate the launch of a brand of high
quality coffee, Rwandan Farmers, on supermarket shelves in Britain, and to
help set up a plant that will produce most of Rwanda’s cooking oil and
provide employment for 25,000 soya bean growers.
Another project will help to fill a shortage of 20,000 teachers to replace
those murdered during the country’s civil war.
Hunter and the Hohns have teamed up to help provide a maternity hospital in
Malawi. “It's just like business. No one person has got all the answers.
When the Hohns find something good they will share it with us and we may
invest and vice versa,” he said.
“Africa has been portrayed as a poor kid with his hand outstretched. That’s
not what it wants. Aid in the long term is not sustainable. Economic
empowerment and development are what it needs.”
Hunter says he has adopted the motto of his fellow Scot Andrew Carnegie, the
19th-century steel magnate, that a “man who dies rich dies disgraced”.
He has Bill Clinton’s foundation as a partner and they have forged close links
with the governments of Malawi and Rwanda. Paul Kagame, the president of
Rwanda, has been his guest in Scotland. The Hohns also have links with the
governments in Ethiopia and Uganda, tying the states into foundation
projects.
“It’s very much a private equity approach,” said Gerry Elias, a trustee of
their foundation. “We research the market, look for an opportunity such as
an issue that needs to be addressed, rigorously research the available
options, build an intervention or initiative, then appoint portfolio
managers to fortify the management.”
Other donors include Johan Eliasch, the Head sports gear tycoon who has bought
up some 400,000 acres of South American jungle.
Douglas Miller, an American Vietnam war veteran who chairs the European
Venture Philanthrophy Association (EVPA) from Weybridge, Surrey, said: “The
UK is leading the field amongst European countries.”
Miller, who has led philanthropists on a climb of Kilimanjaro, added: “We even
refer to those who give money as investors instead of donors. They expect
some demonstrable social return.”
Arpad “Arki” Busson, 44, a London-based Swiss financier, is founding trustee
of Absolute Return for Kids (Ark), which has teamed up with the Clinton
Foundation to deliver care and medical treatment for Aids victims in
Mozambique. Busson, who has been dating Uma Thurman, star of the Kill Bill
films, says of Ark: “If we can apply the entrepreneurial principles we have
brought to business to charity, we have a shot at having a really strong
impact to be able to transform the lives of children.”
The Roddick Foundation, funded with money from the late Dame Anita Roddick,
the founder of the Body Shop who left nothing in her will released last
week, has been funding an organisation to protect women from violence in
Africa.
Sheila Hooper, director of individual giving at the Charities Aid Foundation,
said: “We have seen a 30% increase in giving among our 2,000 members in the
past year. It makes them feel better about themselves.”
The big donors *denotes family wealth (2008 wealth, recent gifts,
main beneficiaries)
1 Christopher Hohn £110m, £235.8m, Aids/HIV, education
2 Margie & Jamie Moffat* £50m, £54.8m, Scottish, medical
3 Sir Tom Hunter £1,050m, £1,013.8m, Humanitarian, education
4 Anthony d’Offay £130m, £97m Arts, cultural
5 Gordon Roddick £50m £36.1m Human rights, poverty relief
6 David & Heather Stevens £100m, £31m, Environment, children,
medical
7 Lord Sainsbury* £1,300m, £233.6m, Education, medical, arts
8 Clive Cowdery £130m, £20m, Social welfare, community
9 Klaus Jacobs £120m, £18.2m, Youth, social welfare
10 Arpad Busoon £250m, £37m Children, Aids/HIV
