Bill Gates Foundation to pay off Nigeria’s $76 million polio debt

- A $76 million debt incurred by Nigeria from Japan to fight against polio, will be paid off by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

- The payments will begin this year and will continue over the next 20 years

- In 2017, the Gates Foundation spent $3 billion to help stop the spread of polio globally

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will pay off Nigeria’s $76 million debt to Japan, over a 20-year period, beginning this year, CNBC reports.

The money was borrowed from the Asian country in 2014, to be used to tackle the polio disease.

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Legit.ng gathers that as a result of the loan, Nigeria recorded no new case of the disease in 2017; a major improvement from 2012 when the country had over half of all polio cases worldwide.

Gates has also acknowledged the significant strides made towards eradicating the disease globally.

In a blog post, he stated: “The heroes who have made this progress possible are the millions of vaccinators who have gone door to door to immunize more than 2.5 billion children.

“Thanks to their work, 16 million people who would have been paralysed are walking today.”

In 2017, the Gates Foundation spent $3 billion to help stop the spread of the disease which can cause paralysis after invading the nervous system.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Dangote Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a combined commitment of $100 million to help Nigeria tackle the problems of malnutrition.

The donation was announced in Abuja at a press conference by the business moguls.

Both philanthropists had previously stated their commitment to ensure that Nigeria wins the fight against polio, at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

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Source: Legit.ng