Why we signed €1 million MoU partnership with NGOs —NBC

NIGERIAN Bottling Company Ltd. (NBC), a strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company in Nigeria, has described its recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the implementing partners of its €1 million donation, as part of its efforts at bringing succour to its operating environments.

Speaking during the ceremony, which was held at its corporate headquarters in Lagos, Managing Director of NBC, Matthieu Seguin, said the donation reflects the Company’s commitment to enriching communities, adding that it would be targeted toward empowering youth and women, the provision of water and sanitary facilities, as well as scaling its PET recycling initiatives in Nigeria.

He added that the key partners for the programmes include Karis & Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation, West African Vocational Education (WAVE), Organised Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPS-WASH) and ChanjaDatti Limited.

According to him, while OPS-WASH will deliver state-of-the-art toilet facilities across identified communities in five states in Nigeria, reaching about five million people annually, WAVE Academy will undertake the up-skilling of youths in Abuja, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Edo, Rivers and Kaduna in Digital and Hospitality skills and connect them to job opportunities.

Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation will focus on empowering vulnerable women across eight states with relevant skills to support the economic inclusion of women.

ChanjaDatti, as a recycling company, he added, will drive the intervention that supports community recycling in Lagos State and Abuja, with the hope of raising the number of recycling banks in the selected communities,  raising awareness of responsible disposal of wastes, especially plastics, while also empowering vulnerable women economically.

He described the MoU as providing a formal framework for the programmes based on shared values.

Expressing his delight at the partnership, the representative of WAVE, one of the partners, Jande Tarfa, expressed the belief that the donation would enable the organization to expand the scope and impact of its youth empowerment initiatives and reach even more beneficiaries across the country.