By Bimbola Oyesola
Coca-Cola Africa Operating Unit (AOU) and its bottling partners have announced the launch of JAMII, a new Africa-focused sustainability platform.
The platform houses the company’s existing and new sustainability initiatives. Through this signature platform, Coca-Cola hopes to attract like-minded partners to help accelerate on-the-ground impact of its initiatives.
The new platform will build and expand on the past accomplishments in three areas: water stewardship, the economic empowerment of women and youth and waste management. This will be delivered together with bottling partners, system employees, and several NGO partners.
“We recognize the responsibility we have as market leaders to make a meaningful difference – to empower and protect the communities and the environment in which we operate. Whether it is giving people access to safe drinking water, creating economic opportunities for people in dire need of it, or reducing the impact of our operations on the environment- we are committed to making that difference,” said Bruno Pietracci, Africa president at The Coca-Cola Company.
Patricia Obozuwa, AOU vice-president for public affairs, communications and sustainability added, “We chose the name JAMII, a Swahili word that means community, society, people, because it represents who we are as Africans and aligns with our values as an organization- our resilience, our commitment, and our spirit of community. Consolidating our sustainability efforts under this umbrella will allow us to strengthen our value proposition and make good on our promise to continue to be a trusted partner for sustainable growth in Africa.”
In the area of women and youth economic empowerment, JAMII will promote and stimulate entrepreneurship opportunities through the provision of improved access to skills training, networks, finance & markets. To date, over two million women across Africa have been economically enabled as part of the 5by20 programme.
“In the area of water stewardship, we will replenish 100 percent of the water used in production of our products by managing water use efficiency in our operations, supporting the conservation of natural water resources and improving community water access and climate change adaption. So far, combined efforts by Coca-Cola Africa, The Coca-Cola Foundation and its partners have resulted in sustainable access to drinking water for over 6 million people through the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN).”
For waste management, Coca-Cola Africa is committed to driving a world without waste. Nearly all of Coca-Cola’s packaging is already recyclable with the goal of recycling the equivalent of 100 per cent of its packaging waste by 2030.
Obozuwa added that “Coca-Cola Africa is already forming new partnerships to facilitate the implementation of JAMII projects that will deliver on these goals.”
Internally, JAMII will inspire employees to make a difference in their immediate communities. Employee-nominated charities will receive grants and employee volunteering will be encouraged. Also, The Coca-Cola Employee Disaster Relief Fund will support employees facing financial hardship as a result of a natural disaster.
“We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide,” she said.
