15 Institutions, 2 professionals receive awards for CSR investments
Fifteen institutions and two professionals have been rewarded for their outstanding contributions in corporate social investments.
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They include Vivo Energy Ghana, World Vision, Vodafone, Vicbens Engineering, Coca-Cola Ghana Ltd, Delta Airlines and Ghana Garden and Flower Show.
Others are Blue Skies Company Ltd, Fidelity Bank, Rythm Foundation, Amanex Company Ltd, Lumiere Group, ASA Savings and Loans, Coconut Groove Beach Resort and Blay and Associates.
The individual categories were won by Julian Opuni, the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, who was adjudged the CSR CEO of the Year, with Shirley Tony Kum of Vivo Energy Ghana being adjudged the CSR Practitioner of the Year.
Awards
They received the awards during the 10th edition of the Ghana CSR Excellence Awards (GHACEA) last Friday.
The awards, organised by the Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), West Africa since 2011, has become an industry benchmark.
The awards are aimed at recognising outstanding individuals and companies that have set new benchmarks of excellence in promoting CSR.
This year’s GHACEA highlighted sustainable projects and social interventions implemented by companies and individuals between January 2021 and June 2023.
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Competitive
The Co-Founder and Lead Project Manager for the Centre for CSR West Africa, John Kojo Williams, said GHACEA was becoming more competitive every year as it was beginning to receive entries from sectors of industry that would usually not bother so much about CSR and Sustainability.
"With the calibre of winners tonight, we are aware that many companies are trying to adopt sustainable practices and embrace social responsibility and sustainability around their core business mandate; our Ghanaian companies now understand the need to be more socially responsible and sustainability conscious,” he said.
That, he said, would help them understand CSR, demystify the misconceptions around it and commit to international best practices.
Mr Williams said it was imperative to applaud winners and companies who were socially responsible, and showcase their good practices, hence encouraged them to inspire others to emulate to do same or even better for society towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Commitment
The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo, said the association was committed to assisting its members and companies in the country to remain profitable, sustainable, and socially responsible.
“One of AGI's main objectives is to foster profitability among its members. AGl recognises that sustained profitability is crucial for businesses to thrive and contribute to the socio-economic progress of our nation,” he said.
He added that it was imperative that businesses operate in a manner that preserves the environment and positively impacts the communities in which they operate, hence encouraged its members to adopt sustainable practices and integrate corporate social responsibility (CSR) into their business strategies.
Testament
The CSR Practitioner of the Year, who was from Vivo Energy Ghana, Ms Tony Kum, said the awards were a testament of the company’s commitment and honour to the communities in which they operated.
“We want to grow with our community as their trust and cooperation to our initiatives actually inspire us,” Ms Kum said.
“Vivo Energy has the vision of becoming Africa's most respected business.
We believe that the company's profitability is not measured by financial impact but its impact on the community and the people,” she said.
“What stood out for us is the consistency year on year.
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We dedicate our budgets, making sure that we implement impactful and sustainable initiatives in the community that we serve.
CSR is an integral part of our business operations.
So it's not a one off thing but continuous,” Ms Tony Kum added.