Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation, says he and his wife are lucky to have Aliko
Dangote, Africa’s richest man, as a friend and partner in battling development
issues in Africa.
In a note via his blog, Gates
said Dangote Foundation is the largest organization in sub-Saharan Africa
tackling health and education.
The world’s richest man for 18
years also highlighted the similarities between himself and Dangote — both in
business and charity.
“Have you ever met someone new
and immediately felt like you could talk to them for hours? That happened the
first time I met Aliko Dangote. A couple years ago, he and I ended up going to
the same event in New York,” Gates wrote.
“A mutual friend suggested that I meet him because he knew we were both super interested in global health. So we made sure to sit next to each other at dinner.
“As soon as we shook hands, it
was clear we had a ton in common. We both started successful businesses in the
late 1970s. For our second act in life, we both chose to start foundations
aimed at improving health and education. (Today, the Dangote Foundation is the
largest such organization in sub-Saharan Africa.)
“More importantly, we both love
to geek out over things that make some people’s eyes glaze over, like cement,
fertilizer, and iodized salt. Check out this video of Aliko’s recent visit to
our foundation’s office in Seattle for proof:
“That first meeting sparked the
beginning of a fruitful friendship. In 2016, our foundations announced a joint,
five-year $100 million commitment to reducing malnutrition in Nigeria.
“Malnutrition is the greatest
health inequity in the world. It’s responsible for nearly half of all under 5
deaths in Nigeria (and around the world). Even if you survive to adulthood,
your chances of dying are much higher, and your quality of life is greatly
reduced.”
GATES: IMPROVING HEALTH IN NIGERIA IS CRITICAL
Gates went on to speak on how
both foundations are working to add more nutrients to food consumed across the
country.
“One of the ways our foundations
are working together to fight malnutrition is through food fortification. Kids
often become malnourished when they don’t get enough micronutrients—vitamins
and minerals—to digest their food properly. One way to correct this is by
adding micronutrients to the food that families—especially those from
low-income households—are purchasing every day.
“When you go to a grocery store
in the U.S., a lot of food already has this fortification. Think iodized salt,
or milk that comes with extra vitamin D and calcium. By introducing additional
micronutrients to the food people are already eating, you can improve health
without changing any habits.
“Our foundations are now working
together to find other staple foods and condiments that could be used to
deliver more micronutrients to more people in Nigeria, like fortified bouillon
cubes. (I talked with Aliko about this at our Goalkeepers event in New York a
couple days ago. You can watch a video of our conversation here.)
“Improving health in Nigeria is
critical to making progress in sub-Saharan Africa. The country is home to
nearly a quarter of all people living in sub-Saharan Africa, and that
population is only going to grow in the future. By solving problems in Nigeria,
you can have a huge impact on all of Africa.
“Aliko Dangote understands this,
and that’s why he’s committed to making progress in his home country. Melinda
and I are lucky to have him as a partner (and friend!) in improving health.”
At Goalkeepers Summit last week,
Dangote said he would love to be like Bill Gates, giving a chunk of his wealth
to charity.
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