Workers were unloading the second consignment of medical supplies from Jack Ma Foundation at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone, Botswana, April 16, 2020. (Xinhua)
African Union has commended Chinese tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jack Ma, following his announcement to donate the third batch of medical supplies in support of Africa's fight against the spread of COVID-19.
ADDIS ABABA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission on Wednesday commended the Chinese tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jack Ma, following the latest announcement of the third batch of medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma and Alibaba foundations in support of Africa's fight against the spread of COVID-19.
The statement was made by the AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who commended Jack Ma for the third batch of massive medical equipment donation in support of the 55-member pan African bloc and the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) efforts in containing the spread of COVID-19 across the African continent.
"I thanked him for the donations of supplies to the AU Commission. This includes 4.6 million masks, 500,000 test kits, 200,000 personal protective equipments (PPEs), as well as 300 ventilators," Mahamat said after holding a phone call with Jack Ma on the latest medical supplies donation.
These vital supplies will enhance the Africa CDC's strategic stockpile to assist member states in the COVID-19 fight, he said.
The photo shows batches of medical supplies from Jack Ma and Alibaba foundations were donated to Kiruddu National Referral Hospital in Kampala, capital of Uganda, on April 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Nicholas Kajoba)
The AU Commissioner of Social Affairs, Amira Elfadil, also commended the latest batch of massive medical equipment donation from Jack Ma in support of Africa's fight against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, calling it "a true solidarity with Africa".
Elfadil emphasized that the donation from Jack Ma would support the AU's recently launched Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) "Test and Trace" initiative, which envisaged to roll out 1 million tests in 4 weeks and 10 million more in 24 weeks across the African continent.
Ahmed Ogwell, Deputy Director of Africa CDC, also hailed the donation made by Jack Ma, saying that "this is a partnership that works. The Africa CDC values friends of Africa."
On Monday, Jack Ma disclosed that the third donation to Africa "will immediately be made" to the AU and the Africa CDC.
The latest batch of the donation mainly includes 4.6m masks, 500,000 swabs and test kits, 300 ventilators, 200,000 clothing sets, 200,000 face shields, 2,000 thermal guns, 100 body temperature scanners and 500,000 pairs of gloves, Jack Ma disclosed in a twitter post on Monday.
Workers were unloading medical supplies at Juba International Airport in Juba, capital of South Sudan, March 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Gale Julius)
On Tuesday, the Africa CDC disclosed that the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent reached 1,158 as the number of confirmed cases hit 23,505 as of Tuesday.
On March 22, the first batch of massive medical supplies donated by China's Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation arrived in Africa. The massive medical supplies, soon after its arrival in the Ethiopian capital through an Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight, had been transferred to 54 African countries.
The medical supplies include 5.4 million face masks, kits for 1.08 million detection tests, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 sets of protective face shields, according to the Jack Ma Foundation, in which each of the 54 countries receiving some 100,000 medical masks, 20,000 test kits and 1,000 protective suits and face shields.
On April 6, the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation made the second round of donations, which went to all 54 countries in Africa as the continent grapples with the pandemic. ■
