Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Jack Ma has donated millions of coronavirus test kits, face masks and equipment to African countries.
Hours after joining Twitter and announcing the first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US, Jack Ma said he will issue out a total of 1.1 million testing kits, 6 million masks and 60,000 medical use protective suits and face shields to be distributed among the 54 African nations.
Each country will receive 20,000 testing kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical use protective suits and face shields.
The equipment will be shipped to Addis Ababa and distributed to African States by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister.
“Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia has agreed to take the lead in managing the logistics and distribution of these supplies to other African countries. I want to express a big ‘Thank You’ to the Ethiopian government and Prime Minister Abiy,” said Jack Ma.
He said the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation will immediately start working with medical institutions in Africa to provide online training material for COVID-19 treatment.
“Africa can be one step ahead of the coronavirus.
“We cannot ignore the potential risk to Africa and assume this continent of 1.3 billion people will blissfully escape this crisis. The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,” he stated.
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
