No, Bill Gates did not just reveal a $5 billion investment in South Africa
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 18, 2019 at 10:51
- 2 min read
- By Tendai DUBE
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The claim says the foundation will be investing $5 billion in South Africa but that is false. That figure was however mentioned by Bill Gates in 2016 in his Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, with reference to the whole of Africa and not just South Africa.
“Over the last 15 years, our foundation has invested more than $9 billion in Africa. And we are committed to keep on investing to help Africa. In the next five years, we will invest another $5 billion,” Gates said at the time.
The article had more than 300 shares on Facebook and some posts on Twitter too. The text below the incorrect headline is a copy and paste of an article in The Straits Times.
The misleading article is allegedly posted by someone named Kenneth P Fluharty, who is apparently pictured. But a reverse image search identifies the picture as Andrew Hoyle, a senior editor for the technology news website CNET.
Another similar article about Bill Gates on the Couple of Happiness site also uses a clickbait headline, with text from the the aforementioned 2016 lecture:
Once again, the thumbnail picture for the person who allegedly posted the story is incorrect. A reverse image search identifies the woman pictured as writer and producer Marisa Donnelly, not "Dana W Mendez".
The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation uploads all press releases and speeches to a press room on its website.
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