Ethiopia-born Saudi billionaire, Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi has made the biggest private donation yet to coronavirus combat in Ethiopia.

He donated the sum of 120 million birr (about $3.6m) to the Addis Ababa city administration on Tuesday. Ethiopia as of midday March 31 had 25 confirmed cases of the virus. Transport has been banned in most parts of the country as government moves to curb spread.

Infections have so far been recorded in the capital Addis Ababa, and in the oromia and Amhara regional states.

Al-Amoudi who is the owner of a mining firm Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Cos., MIDROC.

He was arrested on corruption related charges by the Saudi government back in 2017 but was released in early 2019 after the active intervention of Prime Minister Abiya Ahmed Ali.

Amoudi, in his 70s, became a multi-billionaire investing first in construction, agriculture and mining in Ethiopia, where he was born, and then purchasing oil refineries in Morocco and Sweden. Forbes valued his fortune at more than $10 billion in 2016.