Bill Gates has pledged to give almost his entire fortune to health and education in Africa
Over the next 20 years, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the wealthiest men in the world, plans to donate the vast majority of his fortune to charity.
99% of his capital will be invested in the development of health and education systems on the African continent.
According to the BBC, “By unlocking human potential through health and education, every country in Africa must move toward prosperity,” the 69-year-old billionaire said in a speech at the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia on June 2.
Last month, he announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aims to wind down its endowment by 2045. By that time, Gates plans to donate 99% of his fortune – which would total $200 billion in endowments.
“I recently pledged that over the next 20 years my fortune will be given away. The majority of that money will be spent on helping you solve problems here in Africa,” he said.
Gates emphasized that his foundation will focus on improving primary health care. “We’ve learned that helping a mother be healthy and get proper nutrition before pregnancy, during pregnancy, has the strongest results. Ensuring that the child is properly nourished for the first four years is also critical,” he elaborated.
In an address to the African youth, the techno-billionaire called for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) application systems to improve healthcare on the continent. He noted that cell phones have revolutionized banking in Africa.
“Africa has largely abandoned traditional banking and now you have a chance, as you build the next generation of healthcare systems, to think about how artificial intelligence is embedded in it,” he said.
He named the top three priorities his foundation will have: reducing maternal and infant mortality rates, tackling deadly infectious diseases and lifting millions of African people out of poverty.
Earlier he admitted that he was inspired to give away his fortune by investor Warren Buffett and other philanthropists. However, even after losing 99% of his fortune, Bill Gates will still remain a billionaire.
As already reported OBOZ.UA, for the first time about plans to give away his wealth Gates reported in early May. “In 20 years, the foundation will cease its activities … People will talk a lot about me when I die, but I am determined that the phrase ‘he died rich’ will not be among the said,” he wrote on his page in the social network X.