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Safaricom, Airtel Kenya Sign On to Kshs 2.5 Billion Africa Ebola Kitty(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Safaricom, Airtel, MTN and Vodacom Group are among African telecommunication firms that have agreed to create an emergency fund into which their subscribers can donate US $1 (about Kshs 90) each to deal with the Ebola outbreak on the continent. It is expected to raise some Kshs 2.5 billion (about US $29 million) to deal with the epidemic. According to Business Daily, the initiative was announced in Addis Ababa over the weekend after a roundtable of business leaders comprising CEOs from a range of sectors such as banking, telecommunications, mining, energy and services. The Ebola emergency kitty is also supported by the African Union, the African Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Africa. Strive Masiyiwa, CEO, Econet International, said the telecom firms would set up a facility that will enable mobile phone subscribers to contribute towards the kitty by December. No Ebola case has been reported in Kenya so far. However in October, the government estimated that a contingency budget of Kshs 680 million was needed to prepare for a possible outbreak. By mid-October, the Treasury had only released Kshs 350 million. The deadly virus has devastated Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. "This is a response coming from African-owned companies and global companies active in Africa. The African Telecom sector has agreed to set up a special facility to come into effect in early December to allow all subscribers to contribute $1 each voluntarily to support the response," Masiyiwa said in a statement. He said that this would be the first time such an effort by the sector has been set up across all telecom networks. "We are not just about big business but about ordinary Africans participating in this response," he said. He also noted that Sweden, Bharti Airtel across India had expressed interest in supporting the efforts. "Ebola is not an African problem, it's a global problem," said Mr Masiyiwa. African Union Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and the President of the African Development Bank Dr Donald Kaberuka both also saluted the participation of the Private Sector. Also present at the Addis meeting were Patrice Mosephe (ARM Minerals), Peter Moyo (Vodacom), Bob Collymore (Safaricom) and representatives from Dangote Group, MTN and the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation. Ambassadors from the three affected countries were also present. "These resources will be deployed in the framework of the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa, in close co-ordination with the national taskforces in the Ebola-affected countries and the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response" State's a Communique issued at the end of the meeting. The CEOs also committed to leverage their resources and capacity to help galvanise citizen action around a 'United Against Ebola' campaign and to provide individuals across Africa and globally with an opportunity to contribute. Related stories Crowdsource mapping aids Ebola fight in West Africa Morocco ICANN meeting postponed due to Ebola fears Samsung donates 3,000 smartphones to UN to support fight against Ebola Copyright CIO East Africa. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |