Coca-Cola along with its bottling partner Nigerian Bottling Company, has won two awards at the 15th edition of the Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility Awards, popularly known as the SERAS Awards, which was held at Oriental Hotel, Lagos on Saturday, December 4, 2021.
The leading beverage company received these prestigious awards at the award ceremony themed, ‘Driving Sustainability Through Circularity: Localizing the SDGs for Greater Impact.’ With seven nominations, Coca-Cola emerged winners in ‘Best Company in Water and Sanitation’ and the ‘Social Enterprise of the Year’ categories, in recognition of the company’s significant strides through the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) and various Special Intervention Programmes (SIP) respectively.
RAIN, launched in 2009, is The Coca-Cola Company’s flagship clean water program in Africa contributing to helping countries across the continent achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6).
Through the programme, Coca-Cola Foundation improved access to clean water for over 6 million people, including over 92 communities across Nigeria and over 41 African countries.
Special Intervention Programmes (SIP), on the other hand, is an innovative empowerment initiative developed to improve and support the livelihood of young Nigerians, following the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which hit in 2020.
The programme saw the company along with its NGO partners empower over 20,000 individuals with business, employability skills and provided grants to support SMEs across the 36 states of the Federation.
Speaking on the development, Coca-Cola Nigeria’s Director, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, expressed her delight at the recognition of Coca-Cola’s efforts and reiterated the company’s commitment to fostering local partnerships and collaborations to create opportunities for wealth creation, poverty reduction and community resilience.
“At Coca-Cola, local partnerships are the core of our business and they enable us to achieve more together,” she said.
Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited along with its bottling partner, Nigerian Bottling Company, has been at the forefront of driving change while solving pertinent issues plaguing communities.
Through its key sustainability pillars focused on Women Empowerment and Youth Development, Water Stewardship, Waste, Wellbeing and Climate Action, the company has formed meaningful partnerships with numerous local NGOs to help the government in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals across the country and create shared opportunities for numerous communities across all regions in the country.
Coca-Cola’s multiple awards over the years are therefore a reflection of its vision to provide loved brands, done sustainably, for a better-shared future – making a difference in the lives of people, communities and the planet.
