Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma donates millions of face masks, test kits to each of the 54 countries in Africa to combat coronavirus outbreak
- ‘The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a Covid-19 pandemic in Africa,’ said the Chinese billionaire
- It comes days after he donated testing kits and masks to the United States and hard-hit countries such as Italy and Iran
“To each of the 54 African countries, we will donate 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical-use protective suits and face shields,” Ma wrote in a post on China’s Weibo microblog site late on Monday night. “The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a Covid-19 pandemic in Africa,” added Ma, who stepped down as the Chinese e-commerce giant’s chairman last year.
A total of 1.1 million testing kits, 6 million masks and 60,000 medical-use protective suits and face shields will be delivered to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will take the lead in managing the logistics and distribution of supplies to the other African countries, wrote Ma.
The Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported that Abiy met Ma at the Office of the Prime Minister in Addis Ababa as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the continent. Many African countries are struggling with fragile health care systems. Abiy said he had partnered with the Chinese billionaire to distribute the test kits and masks to each African country, as well as new guide books on how to treat patients with the virus.
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“The clinical practitioners on the front lines of China’s fight against Covid-19 have developed a handbook of treatment and care protocols for health care providers,” Ma tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
