Bill Gates urges Nigeria’s leaders to do more to help ordinary people amid economic reforms

Bill Gates who is visiting Nigeria this week has urged the government to increase funding for vital solutions, emphasizing the West African nation needs to do more than $10 per person for health care each year.

The American business mogul, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is in Niger and Nigeria this week to discuss global health and development with national and local leaders, foundation partners, grantees, scientists, and young innovators. The visit is part of the Gates Foundation’s commitment to work closely with communities and leaders to support innovation that can help accelerate progress and improve lives across Africa.

Speaking in Lagos at the Pan-African Youth Innovation Forum, the Microsoft co-founder underscored that the issues he raised five years ago, economic instability and security threats, remain issues that Nigerians must contend with today. Gates also noted that since Nigeria spends barely $10 per person annually on healthcare — in contrast to the $31 average for sub-Saharan Africa — more financial support is needed to upgrade the healthcare system and meet the Nigerians’ most basic requirements.

Therefore, Gates advised the newly inaugurated President Bola Tinubu and his administration to devote a lot more money to enhancing basic healthcare services.

Nigeria’s economy has been in the doldrums for years, hamstrung by an inefficient bureaucracy, policy missteps, runaway public debt, rampant corruption, and crime. Tinubu has pledged to end the malaise and double the annual economic growth rate to 6% — or more. Since succeeding Muhammadu Buhari last month, Tinubu has scrapped costly fuel subsidies, removed the controversial central bank governor and overhauled the nation’s exchange-rate policies, effectively devaluing the currency, the naira.

Meanwhile, the American tech-guru and Aliko Dangote, Nigeria’s richest man, have announced a partnership with President Tinubu to boost healthcare in Nigeria. By leveraging their extensive experience and resources, the partnership aims to catalyze advancements in healthcare accessibility and quality.