Coca-Cola Launches Its New Sustainability Platform in Africa

JAMII, Coca-Cola Africa’s new sustainability platform for Africa has been launched. The platform will house the Company’s existing and new sustainability initiatives which the company hopes to attract like-minded partners to help accelerate on-the-ground impact of its initiatives.

The new platform will build and expand on the past accomplishments in three areas; water stewardship, the economic empowerment of women and youth and waste management. This will be delivered together with bottling partners, system employees, and several NGO partners.

Patricia Obozuwa, AOU Vice President for Public Affairs
Patricia Obozuwa, AOU Vice President for Public Affairs

“We recognize the responsibility we have as market leaders to make a meaningful difference – to empower and protect the communities and the environment in which we operate. Whether it is giving people access to safe drinking water, creating economic opportunities for people in dire need of it, or reducing the impact of our operations on the environment- we are committed to making that difference,” said Bruno Pietracci, Africa President at The Coca-Cola Company.

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JAMII will promote and stimulate entrepreneurship opportunities through the provision of improved access to skills training, networks, finance & markets

Patricia Obozuwa, AOU Vice President for Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability added; “We chose the name JAMII, a Swahili word that means Community, Society, People – because it represents who we are as Africans and aligns with our values as an organization- our resilience, our commitment, and our spirit of community. Consolidating our sustainability efforts under this umbrella will allow us to strengthen our value proposition and make good on our promise to continue to be a trusted partner for sustainable growth in Africa.”

In the area of women and youth economic empowerment, JAMII will promote and stimulate entrepreneurship opportunities through the provision of improved access to skills training, networks, finance & markets. To date, over 2 million women across Africa have been economically enabled as part of the 5by20 program.

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In the area of water stewardship, we will replenish 100% of the water used in production of our products by managing water use efficiency in our operations, supporting the conservation of natural water resources and improving community water access and climate change adaptation. So far, combined efforts by Coca-Cola Africa, The Coca-Cola Foundation and its partners have resulted in sustainable access to drinking water for over 6 million people through the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN).

For waste management, Coca-Cola Africa is committed to driving a world without waste. Nearly all of Coca-Cola’s packaging is already recyclable with the goal of recycling the equivalent of 100% of its packaging waste by 2030.

Obozuwa added that “Coca-Cola Africa is already forming new partnerships to facilitate the implementation of JAMII projects that will deliver on these goals.”

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Internally, JAMII will inspire employees to make a difference in their immediate communities. Employee-nominated charities will receive grants and employee volunteering will be encouraged. Also, The Coca-Cola Employee Disaster Relief Fund will support employees facing financial hardship as a result of a natural disaster

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

Ghana to Boost Cocoa Production with $600 Million Loan

The Ghanaian government has taken a step to further deepen their ongoing economic diversification programme by launching a project aimed at boosting the country’s Cocoa production. This forms part of the government’s efforts to ensure that it does not fall into the trap of allowing its new found petroleum wealth to lead to the neglect of other sectors, notably agriculture which is labour intensive and will help create employment.

President of African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
President of African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina

To this end, the government yesterday, entered into a historic loan agreement with three key financial institutions, notably, the African Development Bank, Credit Suisse, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China with the Ghana Cocoa Board to ink $600 million loan agreement to boost cocoa product.

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Speaking on the development, the President of African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said that this is a phenomenal event, the result of hard work of everybody to make this happen. He added that “I want to thank the leadership of President Nana Akufo-Addo for making sure that his country and Africa can get to the top of the value chain in processing cocoa into a wide range of chocolates, among others”.

Read also: African Cocoa Farmers to Benefit Through IFC, Cargill Partnership  

Dr. Adesina was speaking against the background of Africa’s disadvantaged position in the global Chocolate chain where Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire account for roughly 65% of global supply of cocoa beans and Africa accounts for 75% of all that, but only accounts for 2% of the $120 billion chocolate market.

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Adesina concluded that “this is a great day, and this is what the Africa Investment Forum is slated for: to make big things happen for Africa. Ghana is bankable. Cocoa is bankable, and of course, Africa is bankable”.

 

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.