Ecobank has through its foundation renewed its partnership with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The latest extension is for a further three years.
Ecobank renews commitment to fight AIDS, Malaria, TB in Africa
The relationship between the two organisations began in 2011, and the new agreement formalizes the pan African bank’s support for the Global Fund’s work on the continent.
A signing ceremony was held in middle of last month in Montreal, Canada on the side-lines of the Global Fund’s Fifth Replenishment Conference.
The event, under the theme ‘Changing Africa: Enabling growth through the private sector,’ pooled together high-level audience composed of business leaders and development experts.
According to the terms of the agreement, Ecobank Foundation will work with the Global Fund to build the partnership into an engagement and advocacy platform for organisations and individuals who share a vision of accelerating the transformation of Africa.
Ade Ayeyemi, Ecobank Group Chief Executive Officer, pledged $3 million at the Global Fund’s Fifth Replenishment Conference in Montreal. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosted the event attended by Heads of State, government officials and hundreds of private sector and development leaders from across the globe.
The Fifth Replenishment raised USD 12.9 billion with a goal of saving 8 more million lives.
Global Fund Replenishment raises over $12.9 billion! We are humbled. Thank you partners! #EndItForGood pic.twitter.com/UblneOmrFu— The Global Fund (@GlobalFund) September 17, 2016
Mr. Ayeyemi said, “Our job as bankers is to build the technical infrastructure that brings tens of millions more Africans into a more formal financial system. Ecobank’s founding fathers established a Pan-African bank to support Africa’s transformation.
We are pleased to renew our productive partnership with the Global Fund. I am confident that we are a step closer to enabling prosperity across Africa.”
Programmes supported by the Global Fund partnership have put 9.2 million people on antiretroviral treatment for HIV, provided 15.1 million people with TB treatment and distributed 659 million mosquito nets to protect families from malaria.
Mark Dybul, Executive Director, Global Fund said, “We are excited about the Ecobank partnership, which improves the impact of our grants in numerous ways. When you workto advance financial management, all the way down to sub-recipients in rural areas, that’s hugely important for development.”
The Global Fund is an organization designed to accelerate the end of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as epidemics. As a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by diseases, the Global Fund mobilizes and invests nearly US$4 billion annually to support programmes run by local experts in more than 100 countries and supports attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations.
Ecobank is a leading pan-African financial institution that operates in 35 countries in Africa and embraces the mission of contributing to the economic and financial development of Africa.
Ecobank and the Ecobank Foundation joined the Global Fund partnership in 2013, to strengthen the financial management capabilities of grant recipients in Nigeria, Senegal and South Sudan.
The initial contribution of US$3 million over three years included US$1.5 million in cash and in-kind services and training.