Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s richest people, plans to give away the vast majority of his fortune during his lifetime. And he recently announced that most of this money will be donated to promoting health and education in Africa.
Gates made the pledge to dedicate most of his money to Africa while giving a speech to the African Union at the organization’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Speaking to the audience, Gates noted, “I recently made a commitment that my wealth will be given away over the next 20 years,” and then said, “The majority of that funding will be spent on helping you address challenges here in Africa.” Gates indicated that, through the work of his Gates Foundation, the funds would be dedicated to improving health and education. The foundation has set as its three major goals poverty reduction, fighting infectious diseases, and preventing maternal and infant mortality.
Foundation to spend Gates’ money before closing in 2045
Bill Gates co-founded the Gates Foundation with his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, in 2000. Fellow billionaire Warren Buffett has also donated about $43 billion through the Gates Foundation. Among its many projects around the world, the foundation has invested heavily in fighting disease and hunger in Africa, though some have criticized its work for raising the costs of farming and potentially exacerbating food production problems in countries where it has worked. In May, the Gates Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary with an announcement that the organization would end its work in 2045. That goal came with a pledge from cofounder Bill Gates that he would donate $200 billion through the foundation during the next 20 years in order to accelerate its work.
Increased giving as USAID slashed by Trump administration
Gates’ pledge comes at a time when the Trump administration has cut foreign aid to Africa and other parts of the world and virtually shut down USAID, the federal agency that has primarily managed U.S. foreign assistance for decades. Last year, Gates met with President-elect Trump and warned him against cutting the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, the program created by the George W. Bush administration to fight global HIV/AIDS. Trump cut funding for the program anyway; experts now warn that this cut alone could lead to the death of nearly 500,000 children over the next five years, and some predict that the overall cuts in U.S. foreign aid could result in 25 million people dying by 2040.
The $200 billion that Gates plans to spend through his foundation could go a long way in improving health and education outcomes in a number of African countries. Such private funding may be particularly valuable if the cuts in official aid continue under the Trump administration, which leave others to attempt to make up the difference in Africa and around the world.
