BUSINESS REPORTER
Zimbabwe’s corporates combined forces Friday, donating US$6.558m to the government to help mitigate the impact of Covid-19.
The pandemic has disrupted livelihoods, expanding the number of extremely poor citizens by 1.3m and increasing extreme poverty overall to 49% in 2020, according to the World Bank.
The donation, which was made to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is made up of US$4.2m cash and US$2.358m in other goods.
Diversified group Sakunda Holdings has donated about US$5.5m in cash and equipment to help mitigate the impact of .
Sakunda donated ZWL$170m for purchase of vaccines, six truckloads of assorted medical consumables which include injections, airway management products, wound care products for rural hospitals worth ZWL$91m and 300 000 litres of fuel (50 000 litres per month for 6 months) to the Government to assist the ZRP homicide department operations.
It also donated ZWL$85m towards tuition fees for university students and handed over 500 heifers and 25 bulls to Mnangagwa in support of heifers projects for the youth.
The diversified group donated five double cabs for the homicide department of the ZRP and ZWL$30m to assist the homicide department to purchase specialised equipment and enhance its operations.
“We pray that this gesture will assist in the fight and assure you of our continued support to the Government and people of Zimbabwe at large in this dark hour,” Sakunda said.
Other corporates and individuals that donated Friday include Beitbridge contractors (US$500,000), CBZ (US$250,000), Scott Sakupwanya (US$100,000), ZB (US$50,000), Ken Sharpe (US$50,000) and Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (US$50,000).
