Former US President Bill Clinton has announced new philanthropy projects in Africa and Latin America.

Clinton made his annual trip to Africa, to meet with staff, volunteers and beneficiaries of the Clinton Foundation  in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Liberia and Senegal. He also announced $50m projects in Mexico, Columbia and Peru at the International AIDS conference in Mexico City.

In Senegal, World Health Organisation (WHO) representative Dr. Antonio Pedro Filipe announced a new policy encouraging all countries to treat HIV-positive children under 12 months old. The Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) and UNITAID will facilitate implementation of the policy which has already been adopted in Senegal.

In Ethiopia Clinton visited Rema, the first ‘solar village’ in the country, which was equipped with 1,100 solar panels after a commitment by the Solar Energy Foundation and Good Energies at the 2006 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting.

Clinton also visited coffee farms in Gisenyi, Rwanda. The Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI), a partnership with the Hunter Foundation, has worked with 6,500 coffee farmers to develop sustainable agri-business and establish a new ‘Rwandan Farmers’ coffee brand structured to return profits to farmers and their communities. CHDI is investing $100m in Rwanda and Malawi over 10 years to generate sustainable economic growth.

Clinton said, “I am excited to take our work to the next level with new projects that will make a tremendous difference in turning the tide … improve lives, and help people work towards a brighter future.”

Clinton also recently announced three new projects of The Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSCI) at the International AIDS conference in Mexico City. CGSGI will partner with Fundación Carlos Slim  in Mexico to each invest $10m in an education project, and in Peru they will each provide $5m (£2.5m) to enable 50,000 extra cataract surgeries over three years. Meanwhile, in Columbia Clinton and Slim will give $20m (£10m) to a project to create an investment fund for microenterprises and small and medium-sized business in areas of Columbia currently underserved by accessible finance.

Clinton said, “I’m delighted that we’re launching this work in Latin America, where the income gap between the rich and the poor is among the largest in the world. The projects we’re announcing today should help improve the lives of thousands of people.”