Madonna to Build Girls' School in Malawi

Following in Oprah Winfrey’s footsteps, pop icon Madonna is planning to finance the construction of a multi-million dollar girls’ school in Malawi for underprivileged children this year.

“A task force of four prominent Malawians has already been formed to head the project which will be on the scale of what Oprah Winfrey has in South Africa," Madonna’s lawyer Alan Chinula told Reuters.

“It is a multi-million dollar project and we will get the real costs in the next two weeks.”

Billionaire U.S. television magnate Winfrey has built a $40 million all-girl leadership academy in South Africa which boasts state-of-the-art facilities including laboratories, a yoga studio and beauty salon.

This isn’t Madonna’s first philanthropic foray in Malawi. Malawi’s High Court is expected to approve Madonna’s bid to adopt two-year-old Malawian David Banda on Thursday. Malawi’s government and David’s father – his only surviving parent – have endorsed the adoption.