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The Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd. (NBC), partners of the Coca-Cola Company in Nigeria, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with implementing partners of its recently announced €1 million donation.
Managing Director of NBC, Matthieu Seguin, said the donation reflects the company’s commitment to enriching communities and will be targeted towards empowering youth and women, provision of water and sanitary facilities, as well as scaling its PET recycling initiatives in Nigeria.
“This donation underscores our commitment to improving the lives of our communities and it will be directed towards areas we believe we can have the most impact – empowering youth and women and the provision of water and recycling facilities. I would like to particularly thank our partners in these initiatives, who have been selected based on their strong track record and will work with us to ensure that this investment is directed where it’s needed most,” Matthieu said.
Key partners for the programmes covered under the €1 million donation include Karis & Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation; West African Vocational Education (WAVE), Organised Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPS-WASH) and Chanja Datti Limited.
OPS-WASH will deliver state of the art toilet facilities across identified communities in five states in Nigeria, reaching about five million people annually. The intervention will also support the Federal Government’s efforts to end open defecation by 2025.
Similarly, WAVE Academy will undertake the up skilling of youths in Abuja, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Edo, Rivers and Kaduna in digital and hospitality skills and connect them to job opportunities. Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation will focus on empowering vulnerable women across 8 states with relevant skills to support economic inclusion of women.
As one of the foremost recycling companies in Nigeria, Chanja Datti will drive the intervention that supports community recycling in Lagos State and Abuja. This will also contribute to raise the number of recycling banks in the selected communities, and further support in raising awareness on responsible disposal of wastes, especially plastics, while empowering vulnerable women economically. The MoU provides a formal framework for the programmes based on shared values and further demonstrates NBC’s commitment to contribute to the uplifting of communities and socio-economic development in Nigeria.
In her remarks, Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Cecilia Bolaji Dada, who was represented by Funmi Raji, said: “The Ministry commends the Nigerian Bottling Company on their laudable impact in alleviating poverty amongst the citizenry and the state in general, by empowering vulnerable women and young girls in the society through their various programmes. I encourage women everywhere to continue to avail themselves to various opportunities to become empowered, self-reliant, and independent financially.”
