Siemens has raised the bar in its corporate social responsibility by reaching out to various communities in Africa to help cushion the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on them. More than 100,000 beneficiaries in Africa heavily impacted by the crisis across Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, South Africa and Kenya have benefitted from the Siemens Gamesa’s medical, food and sanitary product donations.
The company has put in place several social responsibility programs to fight the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis; A sum of €350,000 was dedicated to African countries severely impacted by COVID-19; The initiatives included mainly food and sanitary product donations benefitting more than 100 000 individuals in Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Jordan.Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has launched a series of social impact projects to contribute to the fight against COVID-19 around the world, including a series of initiatives to help African nations impacted by the crisis.
The company’s global campaign covered donations of €1 million worth of healthcare supplies and other relief to hospitals and communities with an allocated sum of €350,000 dedicated to African countries severely impacted by COVID-19. These donations are in addition to the company’s pledge to match staff donations up to €1 million for the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) ‘COVID 19 Emergency Appeal’ campaign.
African governments and health authorities are striving to slow down the spread of COVID-19 that is sending shock waves through their health systems, economies, and societies. Many of Africa’s healthcare and social systems are not prepared to handle the crisis, and extreme poverty affects 34% of the continent’s population, which could lead to even worse effects. Difficulties will increase for those working in the informal sector, which makes up 80% of Africa’s employed population.
The aid that Siemens Gamesa provided across many African nations benefitted more than 100.000 individuals in Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, and Jordan through donations of food, sanitary product donations and warm clothing.
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The specific donation campaigns includes Siemens Gamesa’s efforts towards taking long-term actions such as providing medical equipment to Ras Ghareb Hospital that will not only benefit COVID-19 patients, but also provide the hospital with a set of permanent resources after the pandemic.
Through the company’s SGRE Impact social commitment initiative which focused this year on alleviating the effects of COVID-19, food bags and sanitary products have been distributed alongside tree planting campaigns benefiting vulnerable rural households in Morocco, South Africa and Jordan. Another project targeted Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp and aimed to provide equal access to medical care and sanitary products, training courses on health and nutrition as well as water and community toilets for the 45 500 refugees.
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In Tangier, where the first blade factory in Africa and Middle East is located, the company has provided €100,000 worth of temporary shelter benefitting local authorities in the region. The team has also organized a food and sanitary donation for 1000 families lasting a month and a blood donation campaign where 35% of the workforce participated in.
“We feel it is our responsibility to contribute where we can and help mitigate the effects of this crisis as much as possible. The team at Siemens Gamesa is very proud to work at a company that places value on community,” said Sonia Adnane, Head of Communications and Public Affairs Africa. “We hope these acts of social commitment will lay the foundation for a greater spirit of community to support long-term sustainable development across the continent.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry