ExxonMobil Foundation, in collaboration with ExxonMobil affiliate Companies in Nigeria, have announced grants for partner organizations committed to ending malaria in Nigeria.

The 2022 grant recipients, according to the company, would tap into youth energy and sports activities in mobilizing awareness on malaria and ways of curbing its scourge.

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PanAfricare, in conjunction with NBA Power Forward, will use its grant to foster the development of youth in Nigeria through sports, life skills and malaria education; Grassroot Soccer is to use the convening power of soccer to increase awareness of malaria and HIV/AIDS among young people across Nigeria through sports curriculum; and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to advance scientific knowledge and understanding to advance progress toward the eradication of malaria.

These grants, among other scheduled activities for World Malaria Day, mark the 20th anniversary of ExxonMobil’s support for programs to reduce the burden of malaria in Nigeria. 

For the past 20 years, ExxonMobil’s Malaria Initiative has provided more than $37.4 million (over N15 billion) in cash grants to partners working to develop community-based solutions in Nigeria.

 “This World Malaria Day, we mark ExxonMobil’s contributions over the past two decades that have helped equip and strengthen resilience within our communities to fight against malaria,” said Richard Laing, Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil affiliate Companies in Nigeria. “Thanks to these efforts, Nigeria is better prepared to continue the progress we have made and work toward a malaria-free future.”

ExxonMobil’s Malaria Initiative works with nonprofit partners and leading global health organizations to advance progress against the disease in malaria-endemic countries by supporting malaria education and awareness, improving access to tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment, strengthening health infrastructure and advancing research and innovation.

The initiative continues to support malaria prevention and control programs in Nigeria, a country which currently accounts for more than one quarter of the global burden of the disease.

In honor of World Malaria Day, these partners are focused on leveraging the power of sports and media to reach Nigerian youth, through malaria-themed tournaments and creative radio, television and school-based malaria campaigns, among other activities.

“The prospect of a malaria-free world is in the hands of our youth,” said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. “We’re proud to support programs that not only protect the youth of Nigeria from malaria but empower them to become the next generation of leaders in the fight against this deadly disease.”