Chinese businessman and philanthropist Jack Ma vowed to donate test kits, masks, and personal protective equipment (PPEs) to all countries in Africa to help the continent in combating the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The Alibaba co-founder said his foundation will provide a total of 1.1 million testing kits, six million masks, and 60,000 PPEs as well as face shields.
Jack Ma announced on Twitter that each country in Africa will receive 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical use protective suits and face shields.
“We cannot ignore the potential risk to Africa and assume this continent of 1.3 billion people will blissfully escape the crisis. The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,” he tweeted on Monday.
Ma added that he will collaborate with local medical institutions for online training material on COVID-19 treatment.
Africa can be one step ahead of the coronavirus. To each of the 54 African countries, we will donate 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical use protective suits and face shields. Thank you @PMEthiopia @AbiyAhmedAli for your support. pic.twitter.com/6oKptVCjNx
— Jack Ma (@JackMa) March 16, 2020
“Now it is as if we were all living in the same forest on fire. As members of the global community, it will be irresponsible of us to sit on the fence, panic, ignore facts, or fail to act. We need to take action now,” Ma said.
The items will be sent to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will supervise the allocation of the supplies to other African nations.
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