The Dangote Foundation has pledged to donate $3 million to a fund established by the African Union to contain the Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa.
This was disclosed on Tuesday, November 11, 2014, in a statement written on behalf of the foundation by the President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during a meeting with some AU business leaders.
The AU Ebola Fund initiative came into being after the Chairman of the African Union, Dr. Nkosazana Zuma’s appealed for $30 million from Africa’s private sector for curtailing the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa.
The statement revealed that the funds would be used to send 1,000 African health workers to join the team in the ongoing battle against the spread of the dreaded disease in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
“The funds will enable the immediate deployment of medical personnel to the three affected countries. The business leaders present at the meeting agreed to encourage their colleagues to contribute to the fund and support the AU,” said a part of the statement.
Dangote who lauded African business leaders for quick response to the appeal also urged more leaders and entire public to lend more support in order to eradicate the disease permanently.
He said, “Ebola continues to devastate and take away lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There must be no let-up in urgently matching solidarity and moral support with faster and more strategic actions. None of us can sleep easy until Ebola is contained.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank every one of you around the world for playing heroic roles. I commiserate with the families of your colleagues who have made the supreme sacrifice while fighting Ebola. I thank and applaud all the African volunteers who will be part of the AU initiative.
“We need to appreciate all those working on the frontlines to contain Ebola– the healthcare workers, those tracking and tracing contacts, those ensuring that Ebola victims received dignified burials and others.”
According to the foundation, the funds would be administered to the African Union heads through the African Development Bank.
