5th June 2025, NewsOrient, Health, News, Business And Economy, Governance And Development, Lifestyle. Photo Credit: Channels Television

It was a day of remembrance as the super rich and the powerful people in Nigeria and beyond gathered in Lagos on Wednesday to talk about the health situation of common Nigerians.

The event, which was anchored by celebrity host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, held at the Victoria Island, Lagos State.

The guests at the elite gathering, which included the Chairman of Gates Foundation, Bill Gates; Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, among others, confessed that the healthcare currently made available to the common people in Africa “can be better with improved funding and the development of local solutions.”

A report in Channels Television said that “during a panel discussion, Gates recalled the Gates Foundation’s investment in healthcare in Africa, particularly Nigeria.”

According to the Microsoft Co-Founder, the Foundation “has invested about $100bn in healthcare in the country over the past 25 years.”

This, he said, is based on “Gates Foundation’s guiding principle that all lives have equal value.”

Over 70 per cent of what we’ve spent, the $100 billion we’ve spent in these last 25 years, went to global health, and throughout that 25 years, we’ve developed the partnerships, throughout Africa,” he said.

Gates added: “Here in Nigeria, we’ve had amazing partners who understand the delivery and the way that we can work and help the government. The government, in the long run, has the responsibility for all of this work. We’re there to accelerate these systems.”

On the future, he said: “These next 20 years, you know, the countries in Africa will get to that status. So helping them accelerate that, helping them understand what the unique local challenges are, which things we need to make simpler, and bring the price down. That’s done, as a partnership, and the last 25 years went way better than I expected; that is, childhood death, globally and in Africa, was cut in more than half,” he said, adding that “artificial intelligence can help Africa fast-track its health goals.”

Governor Yahaya on his part said his administration has been able to improve the health budget and track the attendance of health workers in the state.

“Today, immunisation coverage has improved to around 50 percent, and access to primary healthcare has risen to between 40 and 45 percent. In addition, we now have the required infrastructure across the health sector,” Governor Yahaya said.

Speaking, Dangote, emphasized the need for progressive partnership. He said partnership with the Gates Foundation was instrumental in the eradication of polio, pointing out that “with more investments, Nigeria can become a leading drug manufacturing hub.”

On health tourism, Dangote was blunt:
“What we need to do is to make sure we stop this health tourism, and we should now get to start producing our own drugs,” he said. “We should now make sure that when we are sick, we don’t have to travel abroad, all of us, but we need to do a partnership with Bill (Gates).”

According to him, his company, Dangote, has invested massively in local production, which has yielded results in the country exporting cement more than any other African nation.

NewsOrient reports that global leaders, policy makers, and top investors used the Goalkeepers event to rub minds on how to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

~ Published By NewsOrient Network

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