Yemisi Izuora.
Sahara Group has reinforced its commitment to sustaining its growth and expansion across global markets through diversification, collaboration and innovation
The energy giant which currently has operations in over 13 countries across four continents, made this assertion in its second Sustainability Report tagged: “Sustainability Through Synergy.
The Report which highlights activities in 2016 within Sahara Group’s Power, upstream, downstream, midstream and infrastructure divisions was presented in accordance with the Sustainability Reporting Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
According to Executive Director and Co-founder Sahara Group, Tonye Cole, the report reaffirms the organisation’s commitment to transparency and business integrity.
“We are delighted to be leading the charge for a paradigm shift that aligns business reporting in Africa with global best practice. Sahara continues to demonstrate how businesses can grow from humble beginnings to become conglomerates through diversification, collaboration, innovation and resilience. The Sahara story, since we commenced business in 2016 has been driven by creativity and an endless passion for daring the impossible,” he said.
He added: “The 2016 sustainability report covers critical aspects of our business and we believe such reports are required to safeguard the future of African businesses and enhance their competitiveness globally.”
Notable highlights in the report include key investments and innovation in the power sector, where Sahara Group has emerged as one of the largest privately owned power institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report also highlights the adoption of a Supply Chain Efficiency strategy that is expected to drive synergy, growth and sustainability of its businesses across the entire energy value chain.
In addition to providing information on the various business divisions, the report also sheds light on Sahara Group’s core values, people, economic performance, stakeholder engagement, health and safety records as well as the activities of Sahara Foundation – the Group’s corporate responsibility vehicle.
Sahara Foundation which hitherto had implemented several projects in Health, Education, Capacity Building, and the Environment, adopted the extrapreneurship platform in 2016 to enable it empower more beneficiaries through shared platforms.
The report captures the admission of Sahara Group into the Vanguard Board of the World Economic Forum Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI). The Board is responsible for developing strategies for designing corruption out of countries and regions through various initiatives.
Sahara Group is currently working on a new initiative with the PACI community towards helping to Rebuild Trust and Integrity in Businesses with a major focus on Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
In line with its membership of the Private Sector Advisory Group of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Fund (SDGF), Sahara has been working with various partners to promote the implementation of the 17 SDGs of the United Nations.
Sahara Group is partnering with the SDGF, The Kaduna State Government and other agencies of the United Nations, on project “Food Africa” which seeks to empower young farmers, eradicate poverty, provide employment, reduce wastage and improve sustainable food production in Nigeria. The plan is to replicate the project across the continent.