Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has offered an additional USD 7 billion to African countries to promote health, agriculture and Gender equality.
Super billionaire Bill Gates, in his first trip to Africa and Kenya in particular since the COVID 19 pandemic broke out said the foundation was set to spend more than USD 7 billion in the next four years to support African countries.
Speaking on Thursday evening during a media round table session with University of Nairobi students, the philanthropist said that the new commitment to African would run concurrently with ongoing to existing projects the foundation was funding several multilateral organisations.
The commitment comes as the world grapples with overlapping global crisis characterised by hunger due to prolonged drought, malnutrition and poverty among millions in the continent of Africa.
“The big global challenges we face are persistent, but we have to remember so are the people solving them. Our foundation will continue to support solutions in health, agriculture and other critical areas and the systems to get them out of the labs and to the people who need them”, Gates said.
Today, 278 million people across Africa suffer from chronic hunger with more than 37 million people facing acute hunger in the horn of Africa alone.
Melinda French Gates, co-chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said they will continue to invest in research, entrepreneurs, innovators and health care workers who are working to unlock the tremendous human potential that exists across the continent.
“Every day, men and women across Africa are rising to meet the biggest challenges facing their families, communities and countries”, she said.
The foundation is calling on global leaders to step up their commitments to finding solutions and strengthening systems in African countries which includes investing in people and innovations to save millions of lives and create opportunities for the world’s most vulnerable societies.
The foundation has been working with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria and the resources have helped in strengthening health systems and increasing access to health care in African countries contributing to dramatic reductions in the rate of child deaths from diseases.
In speaking to more than 500 students at the University, Gates said that Africa’s young people have the talent and opportunity to accelerate programmes and help solve the world’s most pressing problems.
Since its inception, it has supported partnerships with African governments and communities driving the success of numerous health , agricultural , equality and any poverty alleviation initiatives.
In the last two years, the foundation has funded partners working to provide immediate action and long term support to small holder farmers in sub Saharan Africa , improve disease surveillance among others.
In Kenya, the foundation has funded tools and technologies in Agriculture , health immunisation , nutrition, sanitation, financial services gender equality and also family planning
“Kenya’s progress under the foundation stands at 81 percent vaccination coverage for diphtheria, 52 malaria deaths per 1000 people down from 142 in 1990 and 83 percent of Kenyans have access to financial services.
Gates, who jetted into the country on Monday the 14th has spent time visiting primary health care institutions, leading medical and agricultural research institutions and smallholder farms to listen to and learn from Kenyan and regional partners about what programmes and approaches are making an impact.
Gates has also been keen in finding out the obstacles that remain and how the foundation can better support future progress.
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