First Lady Margaret Kenyatta's Beyond Zero Campaign has received a major boost after the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, made a huge donation towards the initiative.
According to the campaign’s technical report detailing the successes and challenges faced by the intiative, the Nigerian Billionaire, through his company the Dangote Group, donated three mobile clinics to the campaign.
The report placed the company second among the list of top private sector contributors to the drive, with the main sponsorship coming from British Tullow Oil company, which gave a total of seven clinics.
The initiative has been donating such clinics to various counties with a fully equiped clinic costing around Sh10 Million.
Dangote, whose net worth is 14.1 Billion Dollars according to Forbes magazine, owns a group of companies which has been operating in the country since 2014 and was permitted by the government to prospect for minerals in Kitui County.
The report was released on Tuesday, at State House, by Ms Kenyatta as she launched the 3rd Edition of the First Lady’s Half Marathon slated for March 6.
While addressing key stakeholders to the initiative, the First Lady thanked all partners who had come on board in the drive. However, she decried a survey report which placed Kenya as one of the most dangerous countries for a woman to conceive and give birth, urging for more funding from the private sector.
The Beyond Zero Campaign has been hailed as 'highly gratifying and transformative' in its bid to end maternal and child deaths.
The initiative has earned the First Lady many honours including being named 2014 United Nation's Person of the Year in Kenya.
