Back in
September Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris took to Twitter to propose buying
an island from Greece or Italy to house migrants and refugees. The tweet went
viral and his proposal received such a positive response that Sawiris, Africa’s
10th richest man with a fortune of $3 billion, announced plans in September to
receive public donations for the project by establishing a joint-stock company
with $100 million in capital.
The net of islands he’s considering buying
has widened since Sawiris’ September announcement that he’d identified two
private islands. According to the spokesperson, he’s now studying the potential
of 17 Greek islands to determine which can accommodate the highest number of
refugees and has “highest potential for future use.”
Sawiris is still awaiting Greek government
approval to purchase an island, which he said he would name Aylan Island to
honor the 3-year old Syrian boy whose drowned body was washed up in a Turkish
beach. (Pictures of the boy were featured online and in newspapers around the
world.) Neither the Greek government nor the UN Refugee Agency have responded
to FORBES’ request for comment.
In mid-September Sawiris stated that he’d
created a team dedicated to organizing volunteers into areas of expertise so
they’re ready to start contributing to the project when the work of
transporting and housing refugees begins. He also explained the concept of a
joint-stock company.
“Establishing a legal entity will allow us
to accept donations in a legitimate way, as anyone who will donate will get
shares in the company, thus becoming a partner in the island and in the
project,” reads the announcement. “This way, any money put in will not be
completely lost, as the asset (the island) will remain.”
Sawiris runs Orascom Telecom Media &
Technology (OTMT), a joint-stock company, incorporated and registered in Egypt
with investments in mobile phone, media and technology companies in Egypt,
Lebanon and Pakistan. His brother, Nassef, is also a billionaire. Their father,
Onsi Sawiris founded Orascom as a family business and Naguib joined the
business in 1979.
According to his spokesperson, Sawiris will not create the joint-stock
company or begin accepting donations until he gets government approval to
acquire the island. The concept of a joint-stock company has raised some
eyebrows.
“The idea of creating a joint-stock company
for a charitable purpose is very strange, if not bizarre,” said Melissa Berman,
president and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.”In other circumstances
like this people create a charitable trust or charitable organization, then if
the original purpose isn’t workable you use those resources for a nonprofit
purpose.”
Meanwhile, a couple of other billionaires
have also found ways to support refugees. In September, Norwegian billionaire
Petter Stordalen donated 5,000 free nights to refugees in his hotel chain
outside Oslo. He also made a donation to UNICEF. In May, Turkish billionaire
Hamdi Ulukaya founded The Tent Foundation to aid refugees. He’s said that he’s
been hiring refugees to work in his Chobani greek yogurt plants for the past
five years.
According to the UN there are more than 4.2
million refugees in need of a safe haven, the biggest displacement of people
the world’s experienced since World War II. Of those, 127,681 refugees have
registered in Egypt where the UN is seeking to raise $189,581,596 to fund
health, education and livelihood programs. So far 27% of the UN’s appeal has
been met. The best way for a billionaire to aid refugees right now is to
provide funding so refugees have food and warm shelters in their host country,
according to a representative for the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
Πηγή:
forbes.com
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