Sahara to mark 20th anniversary with sustainable development projects
Sahara’s
Executive Director, Tonye Cole, said the group had since its inception in 1996
been passionate about giving and serving, adding that it considered the
opportunity to increase its involvement in empowering lives and communities a
“unique privilege”.
Cole said Sahara would work closely with governments and stakeholders in countries where it operates, the United Nations, European union, sustainable development goals fund (SDG-F) and other partners to enhance the quest for inclusive economic growth, poverty eradication, food security and access to potable water.
Sahara’s
growth has seen it extend its vision of “bringing energy to life” from Lagos,
Nigeria to other locations in Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia. The group
has operating entities at these locations that are leading players in the
power, downstream, midstream, upstream and infrastructure sectors.
Cole said Sahara would work closely with governments and stakeholders in countries where it operates, the United Nations, European union, sustainable development goals fund (SDG-F) and other partners to enhance the quest for inclusive economic growth, poverty eradication, food security and access to potable water.
Sahara’s
intervention projects will be coordinated by the Sahara foundation, the Group’s
corporate responsibility vehicle. The foundation’s focus areas include
education and capacity building, environment, health and sustainable community
development.
“Sahara has so much to be grateful for having started from very humble beginnings 20 years ago to becoming one of Africa’s leading energy conglomerates. To mark this milestone, Sahara will initiate and support more projects that would help bring the world closer to achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030,” he stated.
He added:
“Over the past 20 years, probably the greatest source of inspiration for Sahara is knowing that we have stood as a sure source of inspiration for a generation of young men and women, especially the less privileged of our society. By giving them opportunities to fulfill their dreams, nurturing hope and belief in themselves that they can attain any goal they set for themselves, we have seen lives transformed for the better.”
In
recognition of its contribution to supporting sustainable development, Sahara
was in 2015 inducted into the private sector advisory board of the SDG-f where
it plays a critical role in the development platforms for effective global
collaboration towards realizing the SDGs.
Describing
some of the impact areas the foundation would be involved in this anniversary
year, Cole said Sahara, in collaboration
with the SDG-F and the Kaduna state government will unveil the Food Africa
Project aimed at driving economic empowerment and poverty alleviation for over
half a million people through food security. The project will achieve this
through robust optimization of the entire food value chain and keying into the
school feeding program of the state government.
Cole stated
that following the Foundation’s highly successful campaign with the Carter
Center to eradicate the guinea worm scourge in Nigeria, both organisations will
tackle the rising menace of water borne diseases at various camps for
Internally Displaced Persons. “Sahara Foundation in partnership with the Carter
Center will be donating boreholes to the camps, while some individuals in the
camps will be trained on how to deploy basic toolkits to rectify minor faults
on the machines. This will promote sustainability of the project and empower
the people so trained,” he explained.
Sahara’s
Youth Creativity Challenge - in partnership with Enactus Nigeria, will inspire
students from over 50 tertiary institutions across Nigeria to develop
sustainable projects in various deprived communities. In 2016, the students
will be required to design projects aimed at providing solutions to certain
environmental and health issues in selected communities. Sahara Foundation is
currently working on how this will be replicated in other Sahara locations
across the globe, in addition to the development of a project that is expected
to empower 10 million youths directly through various engagements.
Sahara will
also embark on and support more community health awareness campaigns,
educational advancement programmes, clean environment projects and capacity
building engagements in all its locations.
In 2015,
Sahara foundation reached out to over 50,000 direct beneficiaries through its
various projects and initiatives. Sahara also achieved a total of 1500 staff
volunteer hours in line with the group’s policy that enshrines volunteerism as
a core aspect of its Personal and Corporate Social Responsibility (PCSR)
projects.
The
Foundation received several awards for its contribution to the society. These
include: Down Syndrome recognition award (2015) - for contribution towards the
upliftment of people with Down Syndrome in Nigeria; special recognition in
Dubai at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) for contribution to youth
empowerment and Great Place to Work Award 2015 – in recognition for efforts at
making the world a better place through best practice and excellent track
record in Corporate Social Responsibility.
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