BY Haleem Olatunji
The medical kit Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, Chinese e-commerce company, donated to fight coronavirus pandemic has arrived Nigeria.
The Ethiopian Airlines flight which transported the materials arrived at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday.
The Chinese investor had earlier announced a donation of 1.1 million testing kits and six million masks to fight coronavirus in Africa.
At least 42 countries in the continent have confirmed cases of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, Firihiewot Mekonnen, general manager, Ethiopian Airlines, commended Ma for the donations.
He also commended Abiy Ahmed, Ethopian prime minister, for the coordination of the medical supplies.
“We appreciate the donation of the Jack Ma Foundation and the generosity of Jack Ma. We admire Abiy Ahmed, our Prime Minister, for his initiative and organization of the entire coordination of the process,” the statement read.
“As an indigenous and pioneer Pan African airline, Ethiopian Airlines has stood together with Africans at all times for the last seven decades. Ethiopian has supported Africans in good and challenging times. In this unprecedented global pandemic, Ethiopian will continue its commitment for African people to help them fight and win this invisible enemy.
“Today, we are very happy to deliver these medical supplies to the Government and people of Nigeria. Ethiopian Airlines has always stood by Nigeria in times of good and bad. Since we started flying to Lagos we have not stopped our flights even when Abuja airport was closed we were the only international airline that flew to Kaduna.”
In a tweet, Ethiopian prime minister announced that the materials have been transferred to Nigeria and eight other African countries.
“This morning we have sent out the second shipment of #COVID-19 materials acquired through the support of
@JackMa and the @AlibabaGroup
to #South Africa, #Burundi, #Rwanda, #Togo, #Zambia, #Zimbabwe, #Kenya, #Nigeria and #South Sudan,” the tweet read.
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