• In 2016, their foundations announced a joint, five-year $100 million commitment to reducing malnutrition in Nigeria.
• Bill gates said they work together to fight malnutrition through food fortification.
Image: COURTESY
Have you ever met someone new and immediately felt like you could talk to them for hours?
That was the scenario when the second world's richest man Bill Gates met Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote in an event in New York.
"As soon as we shook hands, it was clear we had a tonne in common. We were both super interested in global health. So we made sure to sit next to each other at dinner," Bill Gates wrote on his social media pages.
That first meeting sparked the beginning of a fruitful friendship that led them to start a business in the 1970s.
"We chose to start foundations aimed at improving health and education. We formed the Dangote Foundation," Bill Gates said.
Gates in 2000 founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help all people lead healthy, productive lives.
He said they both love to geek out over things that make some people’s eyes glaze over, like cement, fertilizer, and iodized salt.
Malnutrition is the greatest health inequity in the world. It’s responsible for nearly half of the world’s childhood deaths. I recently talked with my friend Aliko Dangote about how we had improve nutrition in his home country of Nigeria and around the world.
In 2016, their foundations announced a joint, five-year $100 million commitment to reducing malnutrition in Nigeria.
"Malnutrition is the greatest health inequity in the world. It’s responsible for nearly half of all under-five deaths in Nigeria (and around the world). Even if you survive to adulthood, your chances of dying are much higher, and your quality of life is greatly reduced," the American magnate said.
The two foundations, Gates said they work together to fight malnutrition through food fortification.
Kids he said often become malnourished when they don’t get enough micronutrients - vitamins and minerals - to digest their food properly.
"One way to correct this is by adding micronutrients to the food that families -especially those from low-income households are purchasing every day," Gates said.
He said in groceries stores in the US, a lot of food is already fortified.
"Think iodized salt or milk that comes with extra Vitamin D and Calcium. By introducing additional micronutrients to the food people are already eating, you can improve health without changing any habits," he said.
Gates said he is working closely with the Nigerian Tycoon to find other staple foods and condiments that could be used to deliver more micronutrients to Africans, like fortified bouillon cubes.
"Melinda and I are lucky to have him as a partner (and friend!) in improving health,'he said.
According to 2019 Forbes list, Gates net worth is $96.5 billion while Dangote's is the richest African man with a net worth of $10.4 billion.
The Nigerian tycoon owns Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities in Nigeria and other African countries.
He is best known as the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation.