By Adedapo Adesanya
The Chinese billionaire and philanthropist, Mr Jack Ma, on Monday said he has sent more emergency medical supplies to combat coronavirus in Nigeria and other African countries.
“Our second donation to 54 countries in Africa is on the way,” Mr Ma announced on his Twitter page – @JackMa as part of his global initiative on tackling COVID-19.
The consignment include 500 ventilators, 200,000 suits and face shields, 2,000 thermometers, 1 million swabs and extraction kits, and 500,000 gloves.
The testing and prevention kits were sent through the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr Abiy Ahmed, who’s overseeing the distribution of the supplies to other countries.
This is the second batch of such medical kits from Mr Ma to Africa through his foundation.
Mr Ma’s foundation recently donated a total of 1.1 million testing kits, six million masks, and 60,000 protective suits and face shields to Africa.
The tech billionaire and co-founder of Alibaba recently launched an online platform that allows doctors, nurses and medical experts across the world to share knowledge on the global pandemic.
He specifically encouraged African medical experts to leverage the platform, saying Chinese doctors were ready to help.
“Calling all African medical experts! Chinese frontline doctors are online & ready to share hard-earned lessons,” he said.
“Time is running out, but we can help minimize the outbreak by collaborating. Africa can win this war,” he added.
Mr Ma has also donated coronavirus prevention supplies to the United States, Italy, and other countries in Asia and Latin America.
On March 22, 2020, an Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight loaded with a large batch of medical supplies donated to Africa from the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation departed Guangzhou, China and landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The flight carried 5.4 million face masks, kits for 1.08 million detection tests, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 sets of protective face shields.
