Browsing: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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  • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation appoints a board of trustees, bringing independent and diverse perspectives to help strengthen the foundation’s governance
  • The governance change comes after the death in late 2020 of Bill Gates Sr., Bill Gates’ father, an honorary co-chair, and a long-time guiding voice at the foundation
  • It is also on the back of the decision by Warren Buffett last year to step down as a trustee after nearly 15 years
  • It also represents an explicit recognition by Gates and French Gates, especially in the wake of their recent divorce, that the foundation will be well served by the addition of independent voices to help shape its work in the future

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has appointed a board of trustees, with Strive Masiyiwa, Baroness Nemat (Minouche) Shafik, Thomas J. Tierney, and Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman joining co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates …

www.theexchange.africa
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and UNICEF said the financing will help sustain national immunization programs
  • These will include COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, and enable the timely procurement of essential health supplies while domestic financing is mobilized
  • Access to diagnostics, treatments, vaccines and other essential health supplies is critical to ensuring that countries can protect their people against COVID-19 and other health threats

Three organizations have announced a $150 million financial guarantee to help UNICEF procure vaccines and other health-related supplies for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The three, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and UNICEF said the financing will help sustain national immunization programs.

These will include COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, and enable the timely procurement of essential health supplies while domestic financing is mobilized.

The financing will be effective through 2025.

According to the partners, many …

A cargo plane carrying 500,000 surgical masks from China at Belgium’s Liege Airport. Chinese billionaires are donating to Africa in droves making China look good. www.theexchange.africa

Chinese billionaires are head over heels with Africa and with donations that keep streaming in, it is just a tip of the iceberg in making China look good.

With the advent of the covid-19 coronavirus, the Chinese have been sending aid to the continent and also to countries like the US and some in Europe. Well, China has a global reputation and the pandemic has become its platform to show its kind side.

The donations started with Jack Ma, China’s richest who interestingly also opened his own Twitter account last month at the height of the covid-19 pandemic.

Ma is using his Twitter account to give prominence to his medical supplies campaign which is delivering much-needed equipment and testing kits to almost every country in the world.

Coronavirus: African leaders stuck with neglected, outdated healthcare systems

The billionaire is sending ventilators and face masks to many countries globally in the …

Digital manifesto for developing countries

A Digital Manifesto, a 10-step guide for developing countries to get ahead in the digital age was launched by Pathways for Prosperity Commission on Technology and Inclusive Development.

The guide was launched in Nairobi last week by the Commission’s co-chairs Melinda Gates, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Strive Masiywa, founder of pan-African telecommunications, technology and renewable energy group, Econet.

“Today, huge gender gaps in digital access are the norm in developing countries. If we invest in closing those gaps, women and girls can start to meet their untapped potential, building economies that are not only more equal but also more dynamic and ultimately more prosperous,” said Ms Gates.

Mr Masiywa said that digital technologies offer powerful tools to help grow businesses and nations by helping entrepreneurs access to markets and giving governments’ innovative ways of delivering better services.

“However, without visionary policy planning and 21st-century skills training …