SBL Managing Director, Mark Ocitti said in Dar es Salaam last week during the launch of East African Breweries Limited’s 2020 Community Support Program report that the brewer has already invested billions of shillings in community projects including water supply, training of extension officers, road safety sensitization and boosting of cereals farmers who grow raw materials.
“We at SBL reaffirm our commitment to joining hands with the government through collaboration with relevant ministries, the business community and the general public by investing in social economic viable projects for the society,” Ocitti said.
He said being one of EABL subsidiaries in East Africa, SBL has a key role to play in supporting state efforts to improve water supply, agriculture modernization and safety of both people and property while on the country’s roads.
“I can therefore assure the public that SBL will continue implementing its strategic corporate social responsibility programme to ensure wellbeing of the community that we do business with,” he stressed. SBL which alongside Kenyan Breweries Limited and Uganda Breweries Limited are EABL subsidiaries all belong to London based conglomerate, Diageo plc.
The launch of the EABL report was the culmination of last year’s launch of Diageo’s 10-year action plan dubbed, “Society 2030: Spirit of Progress,’ which comprises a range of 25 bold and ambitious goals which designed to make a positive impact on the world by 2030.
However, the pursuit to transform the society, according to Ocitti, and in tandem with Diageo’s strategic plan, is anchored on three core areas: promoting positive drinking; championing inclusion and diversity; and pioneering grain-to-glass sustainability-which is equally a policy commitment to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS).
The SBL chief executive further enumerated the brewer’s social programs undertaken in the country so far and the results attained. The ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ campaign has reached over 300,000 people mostly motorists, ‘bodaboda’ taxi riders and pedestrians who have been sensitized with moderate drink messages.
“In championing inclusion and diversity, we have provided sensitization to youth in the communities where we operate to help prepare them for employment through our ‘Kilimo-Viwanda’ Scholarship programme,” Ocitti said.
He explained that the ‘Kilimo-Viwanda’ programme which has so far benefitted over 70 students, targets children of financially struggling families of smallholder farmers who cannot afford to pay for their children’s diploma in agriculture studies.
In championing inclusion and diversity, the brewer has 61 percent of women enrolled in its community programmes in an all-female crew […]
