Jack Ma’s coronavirus supplies arrive in Ethiopia

The first consignment of medical supplies donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has arrived in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

Ma, the founder of online store Alibaba, is sending millions of testing kits, surgical masks, and protective clothing to Africa.

Though the continent is some way behind the rest of the world in terms of positive cases of Covid-19, the Centre for Disease Control has confirmed over 1,000 cases there, a figure rising daily.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, confirmed the arrival of the equipment, posting a picture of the supplies being unloaded to social media.

He thanked Ma and his company, Alibaba, for their help in organising the supplies.

The first shipment contained 1.1 million testing kits, 6 million face masks and 60,000 protective suits, and will be distributed to other countries throughout the continent.

There are great concerns that weak health systems across Africa will be unable to cope as governments lack the financial and logistical support required to adequately deal with the virus.

Photo: Tian Jianchuan/Xinhua via Getty