The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged US $7 billion to Africa’s agriculture and health sector. Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation affirmed the foundation’s long-term commitment to Africa and said the pledge will run over the next four years on grants to help address hunger, disease, gender inequality and poverty.
This new commitment to support African countries is in addition to existing Gates Foundation funding to multilateral organizations, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The foundation is majorly focusing on five countries where it believes it can have the greatest impact on improved trajectories toward achieving sustainable development goals SDGs. The countries include Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Nigeria, Africa’s most-populous nation, is likely to get most of the spending in the region, Bill Gates said at a briefing in Nairobi. He didn’t disclose other details. In Kenya, the Seattle-based foundation supports projects in agriculture, health, immunization, nutrition, sanitation, financial services and gender equality among others.
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty.
In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.
