The Dangote Foundation in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have signed $100m worth agreement to fight malnutrition in Nigeria.
The agreement was signed yesterday in Abuja in the presence of some top official of the Buhari administration including the Ministers of Health, Education, Agriculture, Planning and Budgeting. Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man singed for the Dangote Foundation while Bill Gates, the world richest man signed for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nigeria has remained home to the highest number of stunted children in Africa and the second highest globally, pointing out that almost one in five Nigerian children is acutely malnourished and more than one in three children suffer from stunting.
The two billionaires contended that with its vital role in child health, growth and cognitive development, better nutrition remains the essential to unleashing the potential of Nigeria’s next generation.
Describing the gallant efforts of the two foundations as rare, the Minister for Health. Prof. Isaac Adewole expressed satisfaction that the country is now free of Polio, courtesy of the interventions of the two foundations and assured that the Federal Government will do all within her powers to ensure that the country remains polio free forever.
Speaking further on the motivation behind the pact, Dangote said despite its rapid economic growth, Nigeria was still ranked as the second country in the world with high rate of under nutrition.
The Africa’s richest man said more worrisome was the fact that the country was also rated as the second highest in terms of stunted growth owing to malnutrition.
Giving more reasons for the pact, Dangote said currently, there were about 11 million children in Nigeria experiencing under nutrition with the North East and North West region accounting for the highest percentage of under-nourished children.
He said owing to its vital role in child health, growth and cognitive development, better nutrition would be essential towards unlocking the potentials of the next generation of Nigeria.
He said, “Over the past few months, Dangote Foundation has gone through a strategy revision exercise and we arrived at a conclusion that the biggest challenge confronting us as we work at reducing childhood death is reducing the level of malnutrition in Nigeria.
According to Gates, “Nutrition is one of the highest impact investments we can make in Nigeria’s future growth and prosperity. We know that well-nourished children are more likely to grow up to be healthy, fend off preventable diseases, achieve more in school and even earn higher income as adults. This partnership builds on our foundation’s strong commitment to Nigeria – one of several countries where we are working closely with the government, the private sector and civil society to improve health and development outcomes.”
