Forbes Africa has ranked Lafarge Africa Plc, the fourth-best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Company in Nigeria for the year 2019. The Forbes Africa Awards ranking is a culmination of impact assessments of over 910 organisations operating in Nigeria over the past 13 years.
The criteria for the selection includes the company’s participation and its recognition in national and international investments in CSR and sustainability projects in the period under review. The assessment also focused on the work of the organisation in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the number of stakeholders impacted by the programmes.
While commenting on the award, the Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development Director for Lafarge Africa, Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, said the company is excited and has been encouraged to do more.
“Lafarge has become a global leader in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability and we are happy that our impacts are being recognised. Our CSR and Sustainability programmes are one major part of our business. Our empowerment programme cuts across four cardinal areas of social intervention which include education, health, infrastructure development and other forms of support,” Ambrose-Medebem said.
One of Lafarge Africa’s flagship CSR programmes is the National Literacy Competition, which is in its sixth edition. “We introduced the Lafarge Africa National Literacy Competition (LANLC) in 2014 to engage public primary school pupils across the country who display and improve their literacy skills by competing in literacy-related activities. Since its inception, the competition has impacted more than 700 000 pupils in 1 665 schools across 544 local government areas (LGAs),” she said.
Recently, the company conducted its annual corporate social responsibility for its host communities in Ogun, Cross Rivers and Gombe states. The company has impacted the host communities by creating socio-economic opportunities which have raised over 100 micro-entrepreneurs through various skill acquisition and empowerment interventions. “To enhance more collaboration and public services across the communities, we have contributed 4 200 business hours through our ‘friends and the community’ employee volunteering initiative with over 380 strong volunteers,” Ambrose-Medebem said.
She further stated that through its Agric ecology programme, the company provided 400 ha. of farmland in Gombe State with 700 farmers as direct beneficiaries.
She reaffirmed the company’s commitment to agriculture which remains a feasible source of livelihood to Nigerians. According to her, through Lafarge’s quarry rehabilitation programme, 26 000 tree seedlings were planted in quarries around its host communities to promote the environment.
On this and other sustainability programmes, Ambrose-Medebem said, “We emphasise four critical areas which are climate and energy, circular economy, environment and the community. For instance, our 2018 reports showed that our net CO2 emissions per t of cementitious material decreased to 542 Kg CO2 per t. That was a 5.7% reduction from 2017. On circular economy, we utilised 120 526 of waste-derived resources. Our freshwater withdrawal per t of product was 248 litre per t for cement and 189 L/M3 for ready mix. Across different communities, our social investment projects and initiatives directly impacted over 500 000 beneficiaries within and beyond our host communities. With these achievements, we are gradually achieving our goal, which is to build for growth”.