Philanthropist and African Union Special Envoy in charge of Coordinating the Continent’s Private Sector Initiative to Procure Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Strive Masiyiwa has revealed that he and other envoys have raised $33 Billion and they are targeting to raise $100 Billion to help African countries mitigate the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. ZBC News reports.
Speaking about their massive fundraising initiative, Masiyiwa said;
Many African countries have now received money from what is known as debt standstill, while others have had emergency relief extended to them by multilateral financial institutions. The total amount released to date is now more than US$33 billion. Getting this money is the work of my fellow envoys who include Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr Donald Kaberuka, Mr Trevor Manuel and Mr Tidjane Thiam.
They (envoys) have done a fantastic job and are working to get that money to reach US$100 billion so that it can also reach small businesses. I am confident they will succeed because these guys are world-class smart. I have been pressing that countries use 15 percent of this money to buy medical supplies and fix hospitals.
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