The crisis caused by the Ukrainian Russian war is causing a shortage of donations to African countries. To circumvent the situation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged this Thursday to help Africa with seven billion over four years.

The amount is higher than the Foundation's aid in the previous four years. This aid is intended for projects to combat hunger, disease, poverty and gender inequality. Nigeria will be the biggest beneficiary because it is the most populous country on the continent.

Humanitarian groups in Africa are struggling with detour of funds to Ukraine, and as Russia's invasion increases the prices of goods worldwide, impacting aid operations.

"European budgets are deeply affected by the war in Ukraine and so right now the trend for aid is not going up," said, Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft Corp, in Nairobi during a visit to Kenya.

"If we take all the aid (to Africa), including all the climate aid - we will have some years where it will probably go down."

Kenya and much of East Africa is suffering its worst drought in four decades. In the region, drought, pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have put more than 10 million people "on the brink of a famine crisis," according to World Vision in the US. The United Nations expects Somalia to declare famine this year in some parts of the country.

After a meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto, Gates said Wednesday that the Foundation would establish a regional office in Nairobi.

"Our foundation will continue to support solutions in healthcare, agriculture, and other critical areas - and the systems to get them out of the labs and to the people who need them," Gates said

The Foundation in 2021 offered $6.7 billion in charitable support and last week pledged $1.4 billion to help the world's small farmers cope with climate change. (Foxnews)