By Jimoh Babatunde with agency reports

President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Donald Kaberuka, has described the pledge of $28.5 million by leading companies in Africa to fight Ebola as  a key step in creating a sustainable mechanism to deal with the scourge.

In this first wave of pledges, other companies guaranteed to provide logistics and services as their contributions towards fighting back Ebola.

In his remarks, Kaberuka said that whereas financial contributions are very important, competences provided by private companies are much needed.

“I salute the business people of Africa for making such a statement in dealing with an epidemic that has ravaged out continent. We cannot emphasize the importance of finances in overcoming this problem, but competences are very critical as well,” he said.

“Governments have responded well and a number of them have pledged over 2,000 health workers. Private companies can offer to train health workers or equip those on the ground. We need the knowledge they have and services they can offer in responding to this.”

Business leaders at the meeting comprised CEOs and entrepreneurs from various sectors including banking, telecommunications, the extractive industry, among others.

The Chairperson of Africa Union, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, commended Governments, NGO, international organizations and private enterprises that have been at the forefront of the Ebola response. She said that all sectors in Africa must unite against Ebola, and urged the business community to implement the commitments they made, as well as reach out to their counterparts to support the cause.and development of the continent, and this Roundtable was aimed at mobilizing business support, as well as opening the dialogue on the post-Ebola economic recovery of the countries,” she said.

“The resources mobilized from this meeting will part of a longer term program to build Africa’s capacity to deal with such outbreaks in the future.”

The business leaders agreed to set up a fund under the auspices of AfDB and AU through which they can always contribute financially or logistically to disease outbreaks.

They also agreed to turn the business roundtable an annual event in order to solidify collaborations between government, non-government and private enterprises against disease outbreaks. To date, Ebola has ravaged communities and infected more than 13,000 people and killing over 4,900. Nigeria, which suffered the scourge alongside Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, was in October declared Ebola-free.