Bill Gates has pledged to donate the majority of his US$200 billion fortune to health and education services in Africa.
While speaking at an event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the Microsoft co-founder said his pledge would focus on “unleashing the human potential through health, through education” across the continent.
Referring to the Gates Foundation, Gates said he plans to give away his wealth over the next 20 years. He also said the foundation's goals are simple.
“Mothers should survive delivery. Babies should survive past their fifth birthday – kids should be well nourished,” he said.
“Many of these infectious diseases should go away, and the rest within 20 years should be at a very low level.”
Gates also endorsed AI and its ability to help with his mission.
“It’s an incredible opportunity. It brings challenges with it, but as we drive it forward, it will make a huge difference in health, education and agriculture,” he said.
He also alluded to a slew of federal cuts across several foreign aid programs in the United States saying it’s caused a “significant crisis."
“Some of those cuts are being made so abruptly that there are complete interruptions in trials, or medicines are still sitting in warehouses and are not available,” he said.
“And these cuts are something that I think are a huge mistake.”
This comes after Gates criticised fellow tech billionaire and richest man Elon Musk in the world in an interview with the Financial Review.
Gates reignited the feud by accusing Musk of “killing the world’s poorest children” after his government agency, DOGE, shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” he told the Financial Times.
In a separate media release, the Gates Foundation announced that his pledge aims to end preventable deaths of mothers and babies. This will ensure the next generation grow up without suffering from deadly infectious diseases and lift millions out of poverty.
Bloomberg says giving away 99% of his wealth could still make the world’s fifth richest man to be a billionaire.
