Following his pledge to give away his $200-billion fortune over the next 20 years, Bill Gates has said that the majority of this spend will go to Africa – with a focus on partnering with governments that prioritise the health and well-being of their people.
“I recently made a commitment that my wealth will be given away over the next 20 years,” Gates said in a speech at the African Union. “The majority of that funding will be spent on helping you address challenges here in Africa.”
Addressing more than 12 000 government officials, diplomats, health workers, development partners, and youth leaders in person and online, he underscored the critical role of African leadership and ingenuity in driving the continent’s health and economic future.
“By unleashing human potential through health and education, every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity – and that path is an exciting thing to be part of,” Gates says.
He called for prioritising primary healthcare, emphasising that “investing in primary healthcare has the greatest impact on health and wellbeing. With primary healthcare, what we’ve learned is that helping the mother be healthy and have great nutrition before she gets pregnant, while she is pregnant, delivers the strongest results. Ensuring the child receives good nutrition in their first four years as well makes all the difference.”
Gates’ speech highlighted how countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia are showing what’s possible when bold leadership harnesses innovation.
From expanding frontline health services and using data to cut child mortality, to deploying advanced tools against malaria and HIV, and safeguarding primary healthcare despite fiscal strain – these country-led efforts are driving scalable, homegrown progress.
Reflecting on more than two decades of engagement on the continent, Gates says: “I’ve always been inspired by the hard work of Africans even in places with very limited resources. The kind of field work to get solutions out, even in the most rural areas, has been incredible.”
Gates also spoke about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, noting its relevance for the continent’s future. He praised Africa’s young innovators, saying he was “seeing young people in Africa embracing this, and thinking about how it applies to the problems that they want to solve.”
Drawing a parallel to the continent’s mobile banking revolution, he adds: “Africa largely skipped traditional banking and now you have a chance, as you build your next generation healthcare systems, to think about how AI is built into that.”
He pointed to Rwanda as an early example of this promise: “Rwanda is using AI to improve service delivery. For example, with AI-enabled ultrasound, to identify high-risk pregnancies earlier, helping women receive timely, potentially life-saving care.”