American billionaire Bill Gates, the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will be visiting Nigeria Today to discuss the various health challenges plaguing the country, especially malnutrition.
The philanthropist will be meeting with various leaders of Nigeria, youths, and partners to discuss and address health challenges and agriculture in the country and speak on how to improve nutrition in Africa.
He along with other foundation officials will meet with various specialists in nutrition, agriculture, and primary health care who have been striving to push progress throughout the continent despite economic and financial difficulties.
The foundation announced this information in a public statement given to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday ahead of their visit today.
The Foundation said;
“Gates, alongside other foundation leaders, will meet with experts in primary health care, agriculture, and nutrition who are driving progress across the continent, despite economic challenges,”
The foundation has dedicated more than $7 billion through 2026 to supporting African countries and institutions in developing and implementing innovative approaches to confront hunger, disease, gender inequality, and poverty.
It was also made known that the co-chair would be participating in a pan-African virtual dialogue addressing malnutrition through integrated health, agriculture, and financing solutions.
For this dialogue, it disclosed that Gates would be joined by musician, educator, and humanitarian Jon Batiste.
NAN recalls that every hour, 100 children under 5 years die of malnutrition in Nigeria, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
That is, Nigeria loses about 2,400 children to malnutrition daily.
According to the Global Hunger Trend, there has been an increase in malnourished children compared to the previous year.