13th Nov 2014 The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has pledged to donate three million dollars to the Ebola fund which has been established by the Africa union to contain and hopefully defeat the disease in West Africa. He made this pledge on behalf of the Foundation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at a meeting with some African union business leaders.
According to a press release, the funds collected by the foundation will be used to send one thousand African health workers consisting of doctors and nurses, lab technologists and other health officials to the worst hit regions which are Guinea, Liberia and Sierra-Leone, because according to most reports, resources and logistics are chief reasons for the crisis getting this out of control in the worst hit countries. The Dangote Foundation has said the funds would be administered by the African development bank and that the funds will enable the immediate deployment of medical personnel to the three affected countries.
The illustrious entrepreneur from Nigeria said “Ebola continues to devastate and take away lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There must be no let-up in urgently matching solidarity and moral support with faster and more strategic actions. None of us can sleep easy until Ebola is contained. I want to use this opportunity to thank every one of you around the world for playing heroic roles. I commiserate with the families of your colleagues who have made the supreme sacrifice while fighting Ebola. I thank and applaud all the African volunteers who will be part of the AU initiative.”
He also lauded the business leaders for their speedy response to African union’s call while appealing for more business leaders as well as well meaning individuals from the general public to contribute to the Fund to rid the continent of the critical threat.