…Expresses Optimism About Nigeria, Africa’s Growth Outlook
World’s famous Information Technology (IT) pioneer and philanthropist, Mr. Bill Gates, has canvassed the need to improve Nigeria’s primary healthcare systems, including the need for a realistic, well-funded plan and the importance of using data to measure progress.
Gates, who is also the founder of the Gates Foundation, expressed his views in the ‘Gates Notes’ on LinkedIn post, in which he captured his experiences during his visits to Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Speaking on his experiences in Nigeria, he disclosed that his discussions with the country’s leaders focused primarily on the efforts of the Nigerian leaders on how to improve the primary health care systems
He said: “Healthcare was also a key focus of my remarks to the nation’s governors and cabinet ministers at the National Economic Council, where I emphasized the opportunity to improve efforts to stop vaccine-derived polio outbreaks in Nigeria.”
Despite the challenges countries in the continent are contending with, Gates expressed optimism about Nigeria and Africa’s socioeconomic growth outlook,
Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and political instability remain a big problem in the continent, the co-founder of the software company, Microsoft Inc, said the visits to the two countries practically exposed him to achievements of the Foundation’s interventions over the past 15 years and what needed to be done to consolidate on them.
He clarified: “I’ve just wrapped up a busy five-day trip to Ethiopia and Nigeria. It’s the kind of trip that’s both tiring and energizing at the same time. Even though I stay in touch with a lot of partners in both countries—the Gates Foundation has been funding work in them for more than 15 years—there’s nothing quite like visiting to see the work in action.
“Whenever I get home from a trip like this, friends are curious to hear how it went. Here’s what I’m telling them. From 2000 to 2019 or so, Ethiopia and Nigeria led the way on dramatic improvements in health and poverty that rippled across Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Since then, the pandemic, extreme weather, and political and economic instability have set both countries back, along with much of the rest of the continent. But as I saw on this trip, there’s great work going on in both places that makes me optimistic about their future, and Africa’s”, Gates added.
He thanked everyone who shared their time and insights with him, including Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, and Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, and a special guest and amazing musician, Jon Batiste, who came along with him for the trip.
The business leader and foremost philanthropist assured that the Gates Foundation would “be working with African partners even more in the future, and based on what I saw this week, my next visit will be just as inspiring.”
