UPDATE Tuesday, March 24: The donation from Chinese tycoon Jack Ma has finally arrived in Kenya.
Kenya received 20,000 Covid-19 testing kits, face masks and other assorted protective equipment in an effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The tycoon had promised to donate the equipment to African countries to help battle the disease which has claimed more than 13,000 people worldwide.
UPDATE Sunday, March 22: The first batch of Chinese tycoon Jack Ma's generous donation to Africa to help fight the coronavirus menace has arrived in Ethiopia.
Confirming receipt, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed thanked the billionaire disclosing that the rest of African countries would start receiving their consignments on Monday, March 23,
"Thank you Jack Ma & the Alibaba Group for sending the first wave of Covid-19 prevention materials. Support includes 1.1million testing kits, 6million masks, and 60,000 protective suits to be distributed throughout Africa. Distribution to other countries will begin as of tomorrow," noted Ahmed
UPDATE Wednesday, March 18: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has offered to set up a state-of-the-art Laboratory in Kenya to support Kenya's health surveillance of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
While delivering the message to Health CASs Rashid Aman and Ababu Namwamba, the embassy further promised to provide additional testing kits for the virus.
Kenya has so far recorded seven positive cases while the UAE has confirmed that 113 people were infected.
Chinese Billionaire, Jack Ma donated medical equipment to Kenya, moments after World Bank announced that the Government of Kenya would receive Ksh 6 billion in funding.
Jack Ma, Chinese business magnate and investor, stated that all African countries would each receive 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical use protective suits and face shields.
The announcement was made via Twitter, by his organisation, Jack Ma Foundation, on Monday, March 16.
"We cannot ignore the potential risk to Africa and assume this continent of 1.3 billion people will blissfully escape the crisis. The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.
"We can take precautions now and get prepared ahead of time, as Africa can benefit from the experience and lessons from other countries that were earlier hit hard by the virus," a statement by the foundation read.
The 1.1 million testing kits, 6 million masks and 60,000 medical use protective suits and face shields will be delivered to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will take the lead in managing the logistics and distribution of the supplies to other African countries.
"I want to express a big "Thank You" to the Ethiopian government and Prime Minister Abiy. In addition, we will immediately start working with medical institutions in Africa to provide online training material for COVID-19 clinical treatment.
"This crisis is proving to be more difficult and longer-lasting than any of us had expected. We must make every effort to get prepared. The past two months show us that if we take it very seriously and are proactive, we are more than capable of containing the virus," the billionaire stated while calling upon all nations to unite in the fight against the disease.
Meanwhile, the Ksh 6 billion funding issued by World Bank on Monday, March 16, will be split between the Covid-19 Financing Facility the Universal Health Coverage Project.
"The World Bank has committed $60M to help GoK respond to Covid-19: $50M from Covid-19 Financing Facility & $10M from Contingency Emergency Response component of Transforming Health Systems for Universal Care Project," read the statement.
According to WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the fund was critical in ensuring that the international community could come together to contribute to fighting the pandemic.
"We are at a critical point in the global response to Covid-19. We need everyone to get involved in this massive effort to keep the world safe," stated Tedros.
Kenya confirmed two cases of COVID-19 with over a dozen individuals under quarantine. Other African countries that have confirmed positive patients include Ethiopia, Cameroon, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal and Nigeria.
