By Haruna Gimba
The Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr Bill Gates will deliver remarks at the African Union Summit 2019 and the first annual Africa Leadership Meeting: Investing in Health.
He is expected to speak to an audience of Heads of State and Government, representatives of the African Union and business leaders, where he will highlight the remarkable progress made in the fight against poor health and the urgent need to further commit to and support investment in human capital to ensure this progress is not
lost.
The Africa Leadership Meeting; Investing in Health will be the first platform bringing together governments, private sector and the global
development community, to coordinate and accelerate progress toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Hosted by the African Union on February 9th ahead of its 32nd Summit, the meeting marks the launch of a new Africa-led initiative to deliver increased, sustained and more impactful financing for health across Africa.
Gates will be joined by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Chairman of the African Union, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
Moussa Faki Mahamat, Prime Ministerof Norway, Erna Solberg and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
During the AU Summit on February 10th, Bill Gates will deliver opening remarks, drawing on his and the foundation’s experiences in Africa to
discuss progress and challenges in reaching the development goals and making access to health services a reality for the worlds poorest. “With more than half of Africa’s population lacking essential health services, investing in health is a priority for the foundation, and key to unlocking productivity and innovation and driving economic
growth across the continent,” a statement from the foundation said.
Signalling the foundation’s ongoing commitment to supporting African development, Bill Gates will be accompanied during his visit to Addis Ababa, by Cheikh Oumar Seydi who was recently appointed Africa Director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Leading the foundation’s work across the continent, Cheikh Oumar Seydi will lead on partnering with African countries and supporting the
mission of healthcare and poverty eradication.
