President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented Nigeria’s highest national honour, Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) to Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The event held in Lagos coincided with Gates’ visit to Nigeria and acknowledged his long standing commitment to reducing poverty, health and education globally as well as the complementary partnership with Nigeria and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to drive health reforms.
The award celebrates Gates’ key role in changing lives across Africa and around the world, through innovation and philanthropy. President Tinubu said Gates had made a passionate commitment to improve the human condition and grow innovation in the healthcare space. “Today, we are celebrating his unwavering commitment to prevent and ameliorate the human condition,” Tinubu said during the award presentation.
Bill Gates commented with thanks for the honour and the need to work with Nigerian leaders and partners to improve Nigeria’s health systems. Gates stated, “Nigeria’s efforts to reform primary healthcare are impressive and I look forward to working with Nigerian leaders, scientists and partners.”
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The event also marked the participation of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote who emphasized the focus of public-private partnerships to drive national development.
Gates’s visit also happened to come at the same time as the Gates Foundation announcement to invest $200 billion in global health and development in the next 20 years, a total commitment that embodies the billionaire’s promise to give away virtually all of his wealth to philanthropic causes. Gates’s visit will include an appearance at the Goalkeepers Nigeria event on the theme of Africa’s future in innovation and discussions with experts involved in Nigeria’s national strategy on artificial intelligence and health solutions.
The Foundation’s growing footprint in Nigeria and presence in South Africa, Kenya and Senegal represents a renewed commitment to health and development in Africa. Gates next travels to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he will continue to pave a brighter path for the continent.
