COVID-19: Private Sector Donations Hit N27.16bn

Total funds raised by the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 rose to N27.16bn as of the end of April 23, 2020.

The Director, Corporate Communications, Central Bank of Nigeria, Isaac Okorafor, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement revealed that donors into the fund included both corporate and private individuals.

Recall that the CBN recently announced plans to raise about N120bn to curb the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had said on behalf of the Bankers’ Committee and in partnership with the private sector led by Aliko Dangote Foundation and Access Bank, they had come together to form the CACOVID.

Recently, the coalition disclosed that it had ordered for 250,000 supplies for tests and another 150,000 extraction kits to increase its molecular testing as part of efforts to contain coronavirus in the country.

The private sector -led coalition said no fewer than 1.7 million households would benefit from its food relief package as palliatives.

The coalition disclosed that it had set up isolation centres in five states which are Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Borno and Enugu as well as the Federal Capital Territory, while renovations of hospitals and medical supplies were being carried out in other states.

CACOVID disclosed that it was ready to roll out in all parts of the country having commenced building and equipping of isolation centres in some states.

It stated that there were currently three testing platforms for molecular testing in Nigeria, one of which was the ‘Open PCR machines’, which the coalition had ordered for 10 units, with eight laboratories certified to conduct COVID-19 tests.

It stated,“Open PCR machine is currently the standard platform.”