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Bill Gates Pledges Majority Of $200B Fund To Africa
Mr Gates particularly emphasised the importance of investing in primary healthcare systems, citing them as the foundation for broader development.
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has announced that the majority of the $200 billion his foundation will disburse over the next two decades will be allocated to improving health and development in Africa.
On Monday in Nelson Mandela Hall at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mr Gates, the chair of the Gates Foundation, emphasised that Africa would receive the largest share of the funding, citing the continent’s potential and the urgent needs.
“I recently made a commitment that my wealth will be given away over the next 20 years. The majority of that funding will be spent on helping you address challenges here in Africa,” he told the audience, including African leaders, health professionals, youth representatives, and development partners.
Mr Gates praised African governments that prioritise the health and well-being of their citizens and called for more investment in primary healthcare.
Local innovation
“Investing in primary healthcare has the greatest impact on health and wellbeing,” he said, noting that strong maternal and child nutrition support in the early years of life helps break cycles of poverty and disease.
On Sunday, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed awarded Mr Gates the country’s highest state honour for 25 years of the foundation’s work in key development sectors.
Throughout his speech, Mr Gates highlighted how countries like Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Zambia are already showing what is possible when bold leadership meets innovation.
He pointed to initiatives such as scaling up frontline health services, using data to reduce child mortality, and deploying advanced tools against malaria and HIV.
Mr Gates particularly emphasised the importance of investing in primary healthcare systems, citing them as the foundation for broader development.
“With primary healthcare, what we’ve learned is that helping the mother be healthy and have great nutrition before she gets pregnant, while she is pregnant, delivers the strongest results,” he said.
“Ensuring the child receives good nutrition in their first four years as well makes all the difference.”
AI in healthcare
Mr Gates also spoke about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, noting its relevance for the continent’s future.
“I’m seeing young people in Africa embracing this and thinking about how it applies to the problems that they want to solve,” he said.
Referring to Africa’s mobile banking revolution, he urged leaders to now imagine AI being woven into healthcare and governance systems.
He noted that Rwanda already uses AI-enabled ultrasound to detect high-risk pregnancies earlier, helping women receive timely, potentially life-saving care.
In Nigeria, Mr Gates is scheduled to meet with President Bola Tinubu later during the week and participate in a “Goalkeepers Nigeria” event focused on scaling innovation, where discussions are expected to touch on Nigeria’s primary healthcare reform agenda and national AI strategy.
This visit follows the Gates Foundation’s announcement in May that it will spend $200 billion over the next 20 years to end preventable maternal and child deaths, eliminate deadly infectious diseases, and lift millions of people out of poverty.
Commitment to Africa
Africa has been a central focus of the Gates Foundation’s work for over two decades. Since opening its first office in Ethiopia 13 years ago, the foundation has expanded to Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Senegal.
During this time, it has supported over 100 innovations and helped save more than 80 million lives, largely through partnerships with Gavi and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
Following his address, Mr Gates joined a fireside chat with Paulin Basinga, the Gates Foundation’s Africa director, where both men discussed how governments can work more closely with local innovators to solve challenges.
Other speakers included the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.
In her remark, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala praised African governments for driving progress in public health and development.
She emphasised that Africa’s health progress is a result of strong government leadership, resilient communities, and partnerships that deliver results.
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BREAKING: Tinubu Gives Three Fresh Appointments
President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of three indigenes of Oyo State to the Surveyors Council of Nigeria.
Naija News learnt that the latest development was confirmed in an appointment letter obtained by Punch, which was signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Ibrahim Abubakar, on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
Tinubu appointed Moshood Akinwande as President of the Surveyors Council of Nigeria, alongside Olusoji Adeoye and Olaribigbe Shiyanbola as members of the council representing Oyo State.
According to the letter, the new council members will be inaugurated on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at the SGF’s Hall, Shehu Shagari Complex, Three Arms Zone, Abuja.
The letter read, “I write with reference to the above subject to forward herewith a copy of Mr President’s approval for the appointment of the President and members of the Surveyors Council of Nigeria and to convey the Secretary to the Government of the Federation’s approval for the inauguration of the council as follows.
“The new council members will be inaugurated on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at the SGF’s Hall, Shehu Shagari Complex, Three Arms Zone, Abuja.
“Members cut across various interest groups, including representatives of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors from the states, academic institutions offering surveying courses, the military, among others.”
Akinwande, a retired director in the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, is a native of Oyo town.
Adeoye is the Surveyor-General of Oyo State, while Shiyanbola, who hails from Ipapo in Itesiwaju Local Government Area of the state, is a former Oyo State Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors and former Secretary of the Board of Fellows of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors.
News
Wike Gives Condition to Resign From Tinubu’s Cabinet, Video Surfaces
Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has publicly dared critics to disprove road construction claims tied to President Bola Tinubu’s administration, staking his resignation on the figures he presented at a commissioning ceremony in Abuja on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Speaking during the inauguration of the reconstructed Arab/Gbazango road in Kubwa, Wike said 221 kilometres of roads have been completed out of 317 kilometres awarded across satellite towns in the FCT since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023
The minister directed his remarks at those he described as detractors of the administration’s urban renewal programme.
Wike said: “The people of the satellite towns have felt the impact of governance. It has never happened in the history of the administration of this country. “If there is anybody who has a contrary view, let him come out and challenge us that all these you are saying is not correct, I will resign as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory.”
The event was tagged “Day 28” of a running series of FCT project commissionings, reflecting what the minister characterised as an accelerated delivery of infrastructure across the capital territory.
Legit reports that the Arab/Gbazango Road in Kubwa was among the projects cited as evidence of Tinubu’s administration’s ‘commitment to completing long-neglected routes in residential communities surrounding Abuja’s city centre’.
Wike’s remarks come amid ongoing debate between government officials and opposition figures over the pace and scale of federal infrastructure delivery.
While the minister presented the kilometre figures as evidence of tangible progress, critics have continued to question the scope and quality of projects executed under the current FCT administration
Watch Wike’s video below:
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6MjoWICVfrgvYOI845/694
News
BREAKING: Mystery Deepens as Fresh Details Emerge in Mary Habila’s Death at Tinubu Minister’s House
The Ebonyi State Ministry of Justice has recommended that a post-mortem examination be conducted to determine the cause of death of 26-year-old Mary Habila, who was found dead at the Uburu residence of the Minister of Works, David Umahi.
The recommendation was contained in a legal advice dated July 15, 2026, and addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ebonyi State Police Command.Radio
According to the document, reportedly obtained by SaharaReporters, the advice followed a police investigation into Habila’s death at the minister’s residence on June 27.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) stated that the evidence contained in the police case file was insufficient to establish the cause of her death.
The legal advice noted that Habila was found alone and unresponsive in her apartment, adding that investigators were unable to determine what led to her death based on the available evidence.
According to the DPP, there was nothing in the investigation to suggest that Habila had any known illness or underlying health condition before her sudden death.
“There was no evidence that the deceased was indisposed, sick or unstable health-wise prior to her sudden death, as she was full of life at the time she returned to Uburu in company of her team,” the document stated.
The ministry argued that, in the absence of any known medical condition, a scientific examination was necessary to establish the actual cause of death.
“From the foregoing, therefore, the question that would readily come to mind is what exactly caused the deceased’s sudden death?” the DPP queried.
It maintained that a post-mortem examination remained the most appropriate means of providing investigators with a clear direction.
“This curiosity under the law can only be resolved through a post-mortem examination, so as to provide a clue to the police as to the direction of their investigation,” the legal advice added.
The Ministry of Justice further stated that the police could either honour the family’s reported wish to proceed with burial without an autopsy or exercise their statutory powers to order the examination.
“It is therefore the view of this office that the police invoke their discretionary power to either respect the request of the deceased’s family or proceed with the post-mortem examination,” the DPP stated.
The recommendation comes amid growing public interest and conflicting reports over the release of Habila’s body for burial.
Her father, Baba Habila, reportedly visited a morgue in Ebonyi State to receive her remains ahead of a planned burial in Nok, Kaduna State, but declined to comment to journalists.
The family was also reported to have indicated that it did not intend to request an autopsy.
However, Habila’s body had reportedly not been released as investigators continued to consider the Ministry of Justice’s recommendation.
According to reports, Habila arrived at Umahi’s residence on June 26 alongside another woman identified as Anita Baski and was found unresponsive the following morning.
The case was initially reported at the Ohaozara Divisional Police Headquarters before it was transferred to the Ebonyi State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.
Minister of Works David Umahi later confirmed that Habila died at his residence, describing her as a physiotherapist seconded from the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences to the Federal Ministry of Works.
Umahi also disclosed that he had encouraged the family to consent to an autopsy to establish the cause of death.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters, citing unnamed police sources, reported that investigators were examining aspects of Habila’s employment history and her relationship with the university and the Federal Ministry of Works.
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