Bill Gates giving his address on Monday in Nelson Mandela Hall at the African Union in Addis Ababa.
Bill Gates has announced that the majority of his $200
billion spend over the next 20 years will go to Africa.
He said the Gates Foundation, which he chairs, will
focus on partnering with governments that prioritise the health and wellbeing
of their people.
He spoke on Monday in Nelson Mandela Hall at the
African Union in Addis Ababa.
Gates urged African leaders to seize the moment to
accelerate progress in health and development through innovation and
partnership, despite current headwinds.
“I recently made a commitment that my wealth will be
given away over the next 20 years. The majority of that funding will be spent
on helping you address challenges here in Africa.”
Addressing over 12,000 government officials,
diplomats, health workers, development partners, and youth leaders in person
and online, he underscored the critical role of African leadership and
ingenuity in driving the continent’s health and economic future.
“By unleashing human potential through health and
education, every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity – and that
path is an exciting thing to be part of,” Gates said.
Following his address, Gates joined Dr Paulin Basinga,
the foundation’s Africa director, in a fireside chat to discuss Africa’s development
agenda and the investments and partnerships needed to drive future progress.
Calls for collaboration and shared responsibility were
delivered by prominent African leaders, including Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
director-general of the World Trade Organization, and Amina J. Mohammed, deputy
secretary-general of the United Nations.
Renowned advocate for women and children Graça Machel
described the current situation as “a moment of crisis” and emphasised the
importance of enduring partnerships in Africa’s development journey. “Mr Gates’
long-standing partnership with Africa reflects a deep understanding of these
challenges and a respect for African leadership, ideas and innovation,” she
said. “We are counting on Mr Gates’ steadfast commitment to continue walking
this path of transformation alongside us.”
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emphasised that Africa’s health
progress is a result of strong government leadership, resilient communities,
and partnerships that deliver results.
Gates called for prioritising primary healthcare,
emphasising that “investing in primary healthcare has the greatest impact on
health and wellbeing.”
“With primary healthcare, what we’ve learned is that
helping the mother be healthy and have great nutrition before she gets
pregnant, while she is pregnant, delivers the strongest results. Ensuring the
child receives good nutrition in their first four years as well makes all the
difference.”
Gates’ speech highlighted how countries like Ethiopia,
Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia are showing what’s possible
when bold leadership harnesses innovation.
From expanding
frontline health services and using data to cut child mortality, to deploying
advanced tools against malaria and HIV, and safeguarding primary healthcare
despite fiscal strain—these country-led efforts are driving scalable, homegrown
progress.
Reflecting on more than two decades of engagement on
the continent, Gates said, “I’ve always been inspired by the hard work of
Africans even in places with very limited resources.” He added, “The kind of
field work to get solutions out, even in the most rural areas, has been
incredible.”
Gates spoke about the transformative potential of
artificial intelligence, noting its relevance for the continent’s future.
He praised Africa’s young innovators, saying he was
“seeing young people in Africa embracing this, and thinking about how it
applies to the problems that they want to solve.” Drawing a parallel to the
continent’s mobile banking revolution, he added, “Africa largely skipped
traditional banking and now you have a chance, as you build your next
generation healthcare systems, to think about how AI is built into that.”
He pointed to Rwanda as an early example of this
promise, noting, “Rwanda is using AI to improve service delivery, such as, AI-enabled
ultrasound, to identify high-risk pregnancies earlier, helping women receive
timely, potentially life-saving care.”
In Ethiopia and Nigeria this week, Gates will see
first-hand the state of health and development priorities in the wake of
foreign aid cuts, and he will affirm his and the foundation’s commitment to
supporting Africa’s progress in health and development over the next 20 years.
“Our foundation has an increasing commitment to
Africa,” Gates said. Our first African office was here in Ethiopia about 13
years ago. Now we have offices in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.
That’s a great way for us to strengthen partnerships.”
While in Ethiopia, Gates met with Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed and heard how Ethiopia is sustaining the momentum on critical reforms,
expanding essential services, and remaining resilient amid shifting global aid
dynamics. Gates also took part in a roundtable with the Ethiopian Public Health
Institute on the country’s iodine-folic acid double-fortified salt initiative.
From Addis Ababa, Gates will travel to Nigeria, where
he will meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and engage with federal and state
leaders to discuss Nigeria’s primary health care reforms.
He will also participate in a Goalkeepers Nigeria
event focused on Africa’s innovation future and meet with local scientists and
partners shaping Nigeria’s national AI strategy and scaling up health solutions.
Gates’s trip follows the foundation’s historic
announcement on May 8 that it would spend $200 billion over the
next 20 years to advance progress on saving and improving lives and Gates’
commitment to give away virtually all of his wealth to the foundation in that
timeframe.
Over the next two decades, the foundation said it will
work together with its partners to make as much progress as possible towards
three primary goals: end preventable deaths of moms and babies; ensure the next
generation grows up without having to suffer from deadly infectious diseases;
and lift millions of people out of poverty, putting them on a path to
prosperity. At the end of 20 years, the foundation will sunset its
operations.
In a statement, the Gates Foundation said that over the last two decades, it has
worked alongside African partners to save lives, develop vaccines, and
strengthen systems. It has helped catalyze more than 100 innovations and
contributed to saving more than 80 million lives through Gavi and the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.