Big corporations across Africa have continued to get involved in the fight against COVID-19. Beyond helping governments through provision of palliatives and medical equipment, some businesses are taking a step further.

In a unique public/private partnership, MTN, Africa’s leading mobile network, has announced a donation of $25 million to support the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The donation will help secure up to seven million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for health workers across the continent, which will contribute to the vaccination initiative of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

“The devastating impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and profound. Public and private partnerships are needed if we are to succeed in the fight against the pandemic and restore social and economic norms for our continent and our communities,” says Ralph Mupita, President and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Group.

On 14 January 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairperson of the African Union, announced that the African Union had secured a provisional 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses on behalf of its Member States, through advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to $2 billion to the manufacturers by the African Export-Import Bank.

This was a remarkable milestone in efforts to ensure equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for Africa’s people. However, with a population of about 1.3 billion, Africa requires many more doses to achieve at least 60 percent herd immunity. Contributions by private organizations, like MTN, are therefore essential to help the continent reach its target.

“Our goal is to ensure that all those who need the COVID-19 vaccine have access to it very quickly, but the biggest hurdle in Africa has been financing of the vaccines, and the logistics of vaccinating at scale. We therefore welcome the right partnerships, like the one with MTN, to achieve our minimum 60 percent vaccination target,” says Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, MTN has made significant contributions to help limit the spread of COVID-19 and save lives and livelihoods within its African market. This donation is another example of MTN’s efforts to help find lasting solutions to the challenges facing the continent and to guarantee a healthy Africa, for all Africans.

“We believe ongoing collaborations with key stakeholders across sectors are essential as vaccines are deployed in all our markets, with communication tools, technology and digital services being vital support infrastructure for a successful mass vaccination programme,” concludes Mupita. “In the coming months, MTN Group will look at similar support commitments for the markets in which we operate in the Middle East.

As of Jan. 28, Africa has recorded 3,494,117 COVID-19 cases, resulting in 87,937 deaths according to data from Africa CDC. The rising figures as well as the economic impact of the pandemic on the continent are propelling the push to secure as much vaccine as possible.

But compared to the rest of the world, Africa has so far had a more manageable situation, and many believe that overhauling the continent’s health sector should be prioritized.

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and Chairman of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a charity organization with focus in Africa, urged the most populous nation in the continent, Nigeria, who among others has been making efforts to secure Pfizer vaccines, to focus more on rehabilitating its debilitated health sector.

Nigeria’s health minister, Osagie Ehanire, had in December, told the Senate that the country will require N156 billion in 2021, and N200 billion in 2022 for vaccination. But Gates said the fund should be channeled into making the healthcare system work.

“There is no doubt that the impact of putting money into the health system particularly the primary healthcare system will be very high in terms of saving children’s lives.

“Nigeria should not divert the very limited money that it has for health into trying to pay a high price for COVID-19 vaccines.

“I’m an advocate for the government to have more resources and prioritize health. Obviously I’m not a voter in Nigeria, so Nigeria can decide that independently.

“So my advice is that the primary healthcare system is what is super important and that with those finite resources, you have to prioritize expenditure,” Gates said.

Gates urged Nigeria to wait on GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private global health partnership to increase access to immunization in poor countries, where she is a beneficiary.

“And in that case, waiting for the GAVI vaccines would be the best thing and to put into other areas so that vaccine coverage rates, that are as low as 20 per cent in some areas, get up to 80/90 per cent to save children’s lives,” he added.

The dram of the SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk, to run a commercial transport service to space is becoming truer with each day passed. Last year, SpaceX recorded a historic feat with two successful missions to space, paving the way for everyone who can afford the cost to jump the rockets.

Now, a trio of American real estate investors, a Canadian investor, and a former Israeli Air Force pilot are teaming up to pay $55 million each to be part of the first fully private astronaut crew journey to the International Space Station (ISS). The Verge reported that the trio will hitch a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule early next year, with a veteran NASA astronaut as the commander.

The trip, named Ax-1 mission is being organized by Texas-based space tourism company Axiom Space, and will underscore a milestone in the quest to make space travel accessible to private customers.

“As the first fully private mission to go the ISS, we feel an enormous responsibility to do it well. We realize that this is the trend-setter, the bar-setter for the future, and so our goal is to really exceed all expectations,” Michael Lopez-Alegria, the mission commander told The Verge.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, with seven seats capacity was approved last year by NASA under its Commercial Crew Program to fly humans to the space station.

The Crew Dragon was first tested in March 2019, when SpaceX performed an uncrewed test flight to the ISS. But the progress suffered setbacks in April, when the spacecraft disappointedly exploded following a valve malfunction while in a routine test back on earth.

Musk and his team turned things around the next year, and the trip to the ISS became a success.

The Verge reported that Larry Connor, an entrepreneur and non-profit activist investor, Mark Pathy, the Canadian investor and Philanthropist, Eytan Stibbe, the former Israeli fighter pilot and an impact investor, were made known on Tuesday morning by Axiom as the company’s inaugural crew. And Connor, 71, would become the second oldest person to fly to space after John Gleen, who flew the US space shuttle Discovery at 77 years old.

The report reveals some details of the trip including a breakdown of the $55 million expense. The Crew’s flight to the space station, an orbital laboratory some 250 miles above Earth, will take two days. They’ll then spend about eight days aboard the station’s US segment, where they’ll take part “in research and philanthropic projects,” Axiom said in a statement.

However, the Crew will have to find a sleeping space for themselves somewhere in the ISS as US, Russia and German astronauts will take the only sleeping quarters there.

“There aren’t any astronaut crew quarters for us, which is fine. Sleeping in Zero-G is pretty much the same wherever you are once you close your eyes,” said Lopez-Alegria.

As the dream of running commercial trips to the ISS and beyond got closer to reality, NASA, which previously prohibited private visits to the ISS on US spacecraft, reviewed its policy to allow private astronauts flights to the ISS. The trip will mark the first since 2000 when seven private citizens flew to the station as wealthy tourists on separate missions via Russia’s Soyuz.

A breakdown of the trip’s bill published in the 2019 NASA’s policy update reveals a hefty price tag. Using the toilet and life support systems will cost $11,250 per astronaut, all necessary crew supplies, including food, air; medical supplies etc. will cost $22,500, and $42 per kilowatt-hour for power. It thus sums the bill to about $35,000 a night person, which for the crew members on the Ax-1 mission, there is $1.1 million to pay for eight nights.

But Axiom says those nightly costs are included in the $55 million price private astronauts are already paying.

“The company bills itself as a turnkey, full-service mission provider that interfaces with all other parties (e.g NASA) for the astronauts. Any and all necessary costs are part of Axiom’s ticket price,” Axiom’s spokesman said.

However, The Verge reported that the Ax-1 mission will have to be approved by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel, the space station’s managing body of partner countries that include the US, Russia, Canada, Japan and others. But Lopez said the process has already kicked off.

“I don’t think that there’s any doubt that the background and qualifications of the crew are more than adequate to be accepted by the MCOP, so I feel good about that,” he said.

The $55 million bill for the trip might seem expensive but it’s quite cheaper than the $90 million American astronauts used to pay per seat to Russia to board its Soyuz. But that changed through the US government’s partnership with private spaceflight companies to build private spacecraft to replace the defunct.

In 2010, under president Obama, a program called the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) began to replace the existing space shuttle going on retirement. The aim was to replace the shuttle with a privately built spacecraft. Two US companies, SpaceX and Boeing were contracted with $2.6 billion and $4.2 billion funding respectively to build a new spaceflight for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

But Musk has a bigger plan to put people on the moon using a Starship vehicle, a larger spacecraft he is building to accommodate more private travelers.

The Starship vehicle is expected to accommodate up to 100 passengers. SpaceX is planning to include it with two other vehicles in its Artemis program billed to commence Moon trips in 2024. The Ax-1 mission is part of SpaceX’s contract with NASA, which requires it to continue to deliver astronauts to the ISS increasing the number of passengers up to four.