*Dangote Group’s Cement, Sugar and Salt units all bag laurels at the 16th Edition of the Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Responsibility Awards in Lagos, as the company affirms ‘the awards won underline the conglomerate’s corporate culture’ seeking to promote and embed sustainability

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Dangote Group, Africa’s foremost conglomerate, has won the coveted ‘Overall Most Responsible Business’ Award, just as three of the company’s subsidiaries clinched awards at the 16th Edition of the Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Responsibility Awards (SERAS) in Lagos.

The Group, stated the well-attended event held at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki area, drew stakeholders across the industrial sector who had earlier submitted a record 151 entries for awards in 26 categories, cement manufacturing giant Dangote Cement Plc won an award for ‘The Best Company in Reporting & Transparency’.

Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR), which participated in the SERAS for the first time in 2020, won the award of ‘Best Company in Food Security’, while Dangote Salt Plc also known as NASCON Plc won an award for the ‘Best Company in Gender Equality/Women Empowerment’, on a night which saw the Dangote Industries Limited cart away four prestigious awards.

Dangote Group said: “The awards won underline the Dangote Group’s corporate culture, which seeks to promote and embed sustainability across its various Business Units and pan-African operations, through alternative fuel usage, energy management systems, circular economy, waste management processes, women and youth empowerment, and social interaction with various host communities wherever the conglomerate operates.”

In another milestone showcased in the SERAS Awards event programme, Dangote Group and its philanthropic arm, Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) were recognised among those participants who have featured at SERAS over the last 15 years, alongside other companies, such as Guinness Plc, Nigeria LNG Limited, Mobil, Airtel, Lafarge, Access Bank Plc, Glo Telecommunications, Zenith Bank Plc, Unilever, Nestle, Channels Television, and others.

Mr. Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding & Communications Officer, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), commented on the company’s remarkable performance at this year’s SERAS.

Chiejina said: “DIL’s approach is focused on mainstreaming sustainable practices across the operations of the organisation.

“This underlines the importance that we attach to our people, communities and other key stakeholders.”

About SERAS

The SERAS is Africa’s leading Sustainability and CSR Award.

Since inception in 2007, and up till 2019, the award has attracted over 1,242 from over 300 organisations.

In the 2020 edition, 98 institutions participated from 7 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

This year, 93 organisations sent in entries from across Africa.

In her address to welcome participants at the 2022 SERAS, Executive Director, TruCSR/The SERAS CSR Awards Africa, Mary Ephraim noted that, “CSR and sustainability have gone through their evolution.

From philanthropy (the era of being back) to CSR (the era of giving back) to sustainability (the era of going back) and now to circularity (the era of bringing back).

Ephraim said: “The conversation before now had been about how we could leave a befitting world for our children to inherit.

“But at the moment, it is how we as parents can live so that our offspring get the opportunity to survive.

“This is why we chose the theme – Climate, Circularity and the Future of Sustainability: Bridging the SDGs Gap through Impact Investing.”