Billionaire philanthropist Jack Ma is leaving no country behind in his effort to help the world fight the relentless coronavirus pandemic.
A batch of supplies donated by his charities arrived in Ethiopia on Sunday so it can be distributed across the African continent as the region scrambles to contain the spread of the virus.
Ma, China’s richest man and founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, said the world “cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,” which had been spared the brunt of the outbreak but has seen an increasing number of infections in recent days.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali said the first batch of donations includes six million masks, more than a million testing kits and 60,000 protective suits.
Each of the continent’s 54 nations will receive 20,000 testing kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 protective suits to combat a potential surge in demand for medical supplies, Ma said in a statement last week.
The gifts were funded by the Jack Ma and Alibaba foundations, which have also shipped medical supplies to countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. The business magnate said he’s also sent a batch of testing kits and supplies to the U.S., another country facing shortages and a rapidly growing outbreak.
The pneumonia-like disease has sickened more than 700 people and killed at least 20 in the African region, according to the World Health Organization’s latest figures. South Africa, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Senegal have the most infections, with at least 50 confirmed cases each.
The numbers are relatively low compared to Europe, Asia and the Americas, but experts fear the region’s developing countries may not have the resources to handle a potentially massive health crisis.
“This crisis is proving to be more difficult and longer lasting than any of us had expected,” Ma wrote in his statement. “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.”
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