Mr Bill Gates, the Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says his Foundation has invested more than one billion dollars in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
Gates said this on Thursday in Abuja when he led a delegation from the Foundation to meet with the Minister of Finance on vaccines financing programme in Nigeria.
“Our Foundation has invested over one billion dollars in Nigeria, mostly in health and we are very committed to global development.
“We want to discuss vaccine financing and the issue of how we can be effective as partners for the health resources to grow over time.’’
Gates said that the Foundation was also in discussion with the Nigerian Minister of Health, to support local production of vaccines.
He urged the government to seek private sector support in this regard.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun thanked the Bill Gates Foundation for its investment in vaccines and other primary healthcare services in the country.
She said that the government had inaugurated the campaign to improve tax collection so as to boost its domestic resources and reduce its over dependence on donor agencies.
“As government, we are very committee to solving our health care challenges. We feel that there is enough potential revenue and actual revenue in this country to fund these priorities and they must be funded.
“We are committed to that, from domestic mobilization perspective because we have the lowest tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio in the world and we are doing something about it.
“We are trying to get more people involved in tax payment so that we can fund basic health care.
“There is no way around it because no matter how much support we get from donors, we must have structures to be able to meet these basic obligations,’’ she said.
Adeosun said that the government was also looking into local production of vaccines to create jobs and also save foreign exchange.
She said one of the problems of the government in terms of improving healthcare was not necessarily money, but rather accurate data to know exactly where that money would make the most impact.
Adeosun said that improving financial inclusion would translate to improved data collection on access to health as well as improve primary healthcare service in the country.
While speaking at the expanded national economic council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday, Bill Gates, who is now the second richest man in the world, said the execution process of the economic and recovery growth plan (ERGP) of President Muhammadu Buhari does not reflect the needs of Nigerians.
The ERGP is a medium-term document launched by the Buhari administration in 2017 to restore the nation’s economic status after it was hit by its worst recession in 29 years.
Gates who spoke during the event at Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday with the theme, "Human Capital Investment in Supporting Pro-poor and Economic Growth Agenda", said;
“The Nigerian government’s economic recovery and growth plan identify investing in our people as one of three strategic objectives. But the execution priorities don’t fully reflect people’s needs, prioritizing physical capital over human capital.
“To anchor the economy over the long term, investments in infrastructure and competitiveness must go hand in hand with investments in people.
“People without roads, ports, and factories can’t flourish. And roads, ports and factories without skilled workers to build and manage them can’t sustain an economy.”
Gates said though Nigeria has unmatched economic potential, what becomes of such potential depends on the choices made by Nigerian leaders.
"The most important choice you can make is to maximize your greatest resource, the Nigerian people. Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive."
He said if the government does not invest in people's health, education and opportunities, there would be a sharp limit to how the country could grow.
On health, he said Nigeria, "is one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth, with the fourth worst maternal rate in the world ahead of only Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and Chad. One in three Nigerian children is chronically malnouriahed.
"I believe the Nigerian primary health care system is not adequately funded. But it also doesn't get the most out of its current funding...More transparency would lead to more accountability which would strengthen governance, leadership and management which would improve quality across the board.
“If you invest in their health, education and opportunities, the human capital we are talking about today then; that will lay the foundation for sustained prosperity.
“If you don’t, however, then it is very important to recognize that there will be a sharp limit on how much the country can grow.”
I’ve always loved digging into the science and math behind my work. At Microsoft, I got deep into computer science. At the foundation, it’s computer science plus biology, chemistry, agronomy, and more.
I’ll spend hours talking to a researcher or an expert, and then I’ll go home, dying to tell Melinda what I’ve learned. I can’t imagine a better way to spend the bulk of my time
Check this Out #TBT
World richest man, Bill Gates, don talk say Nigeria na one of di main places where im don dey put eye since.
Mr Gates tell dis one to BBC News Pidgin.
Im talk say Nigeria dey very "important" for di world and for di kain work wey im Foundation dey do because of di country population.
After im give away 64 million shares for im company Microsoft, Bill Gates remain as di world richest person. He talk on top different matter wey concern Nigeria.
Im talk about how im organisation, Gates Foundation, dey help try reduce number of mama and pickin dem wey dey die for di country.
Mr Gates no dey work alone; e talk say im dey work with government dem and NGOs plus people, including Africa's richest man wey be Aliko Dangote.
Source
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos was the world’s richest person for less than a day [SEE HERE], as Bill Gates reclaimed the top stop within 8 hours. This was after Amazon weak earnings pushed the company stocks lower on Thursday.
Amazon said its net income declined to $197 million in the second quarter, from $857 million the same period last year, marking a massive 77 percent decline.
Revenue rose 25 percent to $38 billion from $30.4 billion, but that was not enough for Bezos to retain his title. The e-commerce giant stock price plunged 3.2 percent to as low as $1,020 per share in after-hours trading, after they closed the day at $1,046 a share.
Bezos, who owns 17 percent of Amazon stocks, saw his net worth falling to $88.7 billion, according to Forbes’ World’s Billionaires Real Time Ranking.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates regained his title of world’s richest person with $89.8 billion of net worth, the ranking showed.
Amazon is still the world’s fourth biggest firm by market capitalization behind Microsoft, while Facebook is closing on the e-commerce giant.
In fact, Facebook may surpass Amazon in market value if the latter’s shares continue to decline on Friday due to weak earnings, according to analysts.
CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos has become the richest person in the world after stocks of his company rose 1.6%. According to Forbes report on Wednesday night, Bezos was less than $1bn away from being the richest person in the world.
Bezos’ net-worth has increased by $2.5bn this week alone, stocks of his company rising 3.6%. He is now worth $90.6bn, becoming the first man ever to top a $90 billion fortune for the first time.
He is worth more than $500m ahead of no. 2 Bill Gates, who is the founder of Microsoft. Bezos quit his job at a hedge fund to start his online bookseller in a garage in Seattle in 1994.
He first featured on the 400 richest Americans list in 1998, a year after Amazon went public, with a $1.6 billion fortune.
Gates’ first inclusion in the billionaire’s list was in 1982, and has been no. 1 for 18 of the past 23 years.
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