Co-Founder Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates and Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote have advised the Nigerian Government to increase its investment in social infrastructure in order to lift its people from abject poverty and improve their standard of living.
Gates who was in Abuja where he had a meeting with the National Economic Council including State Governors revealed that his Foundation has committed $1.6 billion so far in Nigeria to fund projects aimed at healthcare, agriculture, and financial inclusion.
He observed with dismay that Nigeria remains a low-income country and investment in infrastructure has not kept pace with a rapidly rising population, let alone spending on health and education.
He, however, called on government at all levels to invest more in the people noting that Nigerians are the best asset to the country.
Also Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote called on private companies in the country to set aside 1% of their annual profit for the funding of the health sector.
Chairman, Dangote Group, said this was necessary because Nigeria will no longer have access to funds from some donor organizations.
” One of the things that we are also suggesting that will ensure we fund our health sector very well is for the private sector to give one percent of their annual profit.” he said.
This he said will help in raising funds because, since the rebasing of the economy, Nigeria will no longer get most of these donations we are getting from Global Alliance for Vaccines (GAV), World Bank and the rest of the donors.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), also known as the Gates Foundation, is a private foundation founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It was launched in 2000 and is said to be the largest private foundation in the US, holding $38 billion in assets.
