Anti-GMO Voices Don’t Deter Him: 5 Reasons Why Bill Gates Is Optimistic About Africa

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates invested $9 billion in Africa over the course of 15 years, and said in 2016 that he plans to spend another $5 billion in the next five years or so.

The world’s richest man according to Forbes, Gates dedicated his first Gates Notes blog of 2017 to his belief that life is getting better for more people, and Africa is proof. “I want to share evidence of this trend from a place where many people wouldn’t expect to find it—Africa,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite places to go for a fresh perspective on how the world is improving. I saw this in-person last year during my trips to South Africa and Ethiopia.”

About 20 other like-minded investors bought into Gates vision for making the world a better place. In December they launched $1 billion fund called Breakthrough Energy Ventures to invest in new forms of clean energy, Forbes reported.

The investors include South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Silicon Valley venture capitalists John Doerr and Vinod Khosla, and Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos.

Gates addressed the impact of climate change on the continent in July at the 14th annual Nelson Mandela Foundation event in Mamelodi, South Africa. He said it makes him angry that Africa is suffering the worst effects of climate although Africans had almost nothing to do with causing it, ENCA reported.

Although he acknowledged that 2016 was a tough year for many African economies, Gates said in his blog, “almost every trend on the continent has been moving in the right direction over the last decade. Per capita income, foreign investment, agricultural productivity, mobile banking, entrepreneurship, immunization rates, and school enrollment are all heading upwards. Poverty, armed conflicts, HIV, malaria, and child mortality are all on the decline—steeply so in many places.”

Not everyone is happy about how Gates is spending his money in Africa. His funding of GMO research to improve crop yields and reduce famine has been controversial.

“Throughout the world, governments, national health ministries and their populations have been led to believe that there is no reason to critically object to GMOs. American mainstream media, which have now been fully absorbed into the agendas of large multinational corporate chemical and food sponsors, claim GMOs are completely harmless,” according to a report by the Center for Research on Globalization.

Anti-GMO voices don’t deter him. In his words, here are five reasons why Gates said he sees the glass as more than half full in Africa:

5. My Favorite Soap Opera

When I was in South Africa last year for the International AIDS Conference, I caught a fascinating TV show one night. The show is called “Rhythm City,” and it’s the most popular soap opera in South Africa. The show, which has characters speaking in the four main languages of South Africa (Xhosa, Zulu, English, and Afrikaans), revolves around people trying to break into the music industry. Some of the storylines are a bit out there (it is a soap opera, after all), but when you see the show it really brings home how far South Africa has come since the end of apartheid. You take a step into the lives of everyday South Africans who are dealing with the relationship and business issues you’d see anywhere in the world. As the continent continues to develop and thrive, I predict we’ll see many other shows like this in other countries.

4. Families Leapfrog the Grid

In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of people in rural areas live in the dark, without access to the electrical grid. But new technologies are changing that picture much more quickly than even we optimists expected. Small entrepreneurs, backed by the U.S. government and private companies, are selling affordable solar kits that help rural families leapfrog their way to clean, reliable energy. These solar kits are lighting homes for the first time, allowing children to continue learning after dark. They are powering mobile phones and radios, connecting households to the wider world. They are allowing small businesses to operate longer, producing more family income. They also improve health, because they’re much safer than kerosene and other traditional fuels.

 

3. Grandmothers … We Get the Job Done!

You know the old saying “success has many fathers?” It turns out success has many grandmothers as well, especially when it comes to reducing maternal and child deaths. Across many different African cultures, grandmothers are powerful authority figures when it comes to a wide variety of health, pregnancy, and child-rearing issues. As a result, NGOs are now enlisting grandmothers as key agents of change for women and girls, especially in rural areas where there are not nearly enough midwives and other health professionals. Grandmothers are helping to guide pregnant women to health facilities and educating them about proper prenatal care. They’re helping to change attitudes about female genital mutilation (FGM). They’re helping to increase newborn vaccination rates. They’re helping women space their pregnancies for health and safety. As Dr. Bouna Sall related to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, “Everyone obeys the grandmothers. Through them we can change many things.”

2. These Hybrids Will Improve the Lives of Half a Billion People

In the developed world, most people eat the root vegetable cassava only in tapioca pudding or bubble tea. But in Africa, it’s the primary staple for half a billion people and the continent’s most popular crop. That’s why I’m super excited that scientists are using the most advanced hybridization techniques for the benefit of cassava farmers and those who depend on the crop. With the support of U.K. Department for International Development and our foundation, scientists are making great progress developing hybrids that are resistant to the major virus that cuts down on cassava yields (cassava mosaic virus). At the same time, these scientists are breeding strains that have more nutrients than the strains under cultivation today.

1. These Images Are Worth Way More than a Thousand Words

Everyday Africa is one of Melinda and my favorite Instagram profiles. It shows what the vast, culturally diverse continent of Africa is like beyond the lazy stereotypes. I’m not much of a photographer myself, but I’m a big admirer of people who can make one image tell a compelling story. These images, most of which are posted by African photographers, do so in beautiful, creative, and sometimes funny ways. “Everyday” and “normal” are usually something we associate with “boring.” Not here! Please see for yourself.