Dangote Foundation To Fight Ebola With $3m

Africa Union’s (AU) efforts at containing the dreaded Ebola virus in West Africa has been boosted with the Dangote Foundation pledging a sum of $3 million to a fund established by African business leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This is in addition to previous interventions in Nigeria where the Foundation owned by the Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had spent about $5 million to evolve a two pronged strategy that directly support the Nigerian government’s Ebola containment efforts, through investments that strengthen Nigeria’s health system in a manner that will endure beyond the current Ebola crisis

The president, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, made the pledge on behalf of the Foundation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during a meeting with some AU business leaders.

According to a statement released by Dangote Foundation yesterday, the AU Ebola Fund was set up in response to the African Union chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma’s call for $30 million from Africa’s private sector to support the efforts of the AU in containing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

It stated that the funds would be used to send 1,000 African health workers such as doctors, epidemiologists, nurses and lab technologists to join ongoing efforts to stop the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

It noted that inadequacy of professional and trained health workers has been identified as the key factor limiting the Ebola containment efforts in the three countries.

The statement said that Dangote commended the business leaders for their speedy response to the AU’s call. He also encouraged more business leaders and the general public to contribute to the Fund.

The Dangote Foundation said the funds would be administered by the African Development Bank (ADB).

The statement pointed, “The funds will enable the immediate deployment of medical personnel to the three affected countries. The business leaders present at the meeting agreed to encourage their colleagues to contribute to the fund and support the AU.

It added, “As at November 7, 2014, some 13,241 people had contracted Ebola and 4,950 had lost their lives to the disease worldwide.

“In Nigeria, the Foundation supported the establishment of the National Ebola Emergency Operations Center in Lagos and ordered 12 temperature scanning systems on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health for screening of travellers transiting through international airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.

“The scanning systems are scheduled to be deployed this month. Dangote Foundation has also donated 3,800 pieces of protective clothing for use by health workers across Nigeria. Dangote Foundation is also in the final stages of elaborating a partnership with the Wellcome Trust.”