By Sheila WILLIAMS
The Minister for Business Development, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal applauded winners at the 8th edition of the Ghana Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Excellence Awards organized by the Centre for CSR, West Africa at the Marriott Hotel in Accra on Friday November 9, 2018.
“You have demonstrated that you look beyond profit-making and that you are interested in the development of society. I urge you to consider more partnership opportunities with government and among yourselves as corporate bodies. There is disconnect between academia and industry, you can help by having organizational schemes that train and groom young graduates as part of CSR projects of organizations. More collaboration with government in doing this and more.”
The President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi and the President of the Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters, Mr. Anthony Sikpa joined the Minister to thank socially-responsible corporates for their social interventions.
The Senior Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA Ghana, Ms. Maki Osawa reiterated JICA’s committed to empowering the private sector and helping it reduce waste, improves quality and maximize bottom lines through the National Kaizen Project and other private sector interventions by JICA.
The Director of University of Applied Management Germany, Prof. Martin Gyambrah, agreed with the Minister that there is a sharp disconnect between academia and industry, this could be fixed through sustainably-designed academia-private sector partnerships.
Mr. Kojo Williams, Lead Project Manager of the Centre for CSR, West Africa noted that the Awards scheme seeks to encourage companies to do more for society, and when socially-beneficial activities are given the spotlight, it will inspire others to emulate same or do even better. He clarified that the CSR CEO of the Year is awarded to CEOs that imbibe themselves the best, in their company’s CSR activities and projects irrespective of the magnitude of their company’s CSR activations.
Centre for CSR West Africa is the sub-region’s leading CSR and Sustainability organization. The Centre develops CSR and sustainability plans for corporates, organizes training courses on CSR and Sustainability in collaboration with major universities, and organizers the National CSR & Sustainability Conference and the Ghana CSR Excellence Awards.
List of 2018 GHACEA Winners
CSR Award for Greening and Environmental Protection – Unilever Ghana
CSR Award for Health – MTN Ghana
CSR Award for Safety & Well-being – Guinness Ghana
Agrobusiness of the Year – Nyonkopa Cocoa Buying
CSR ICT Company of the Year – Huawei Ghana
CSR Hospitality Company of the Year – Accra City
CSR SME of the Year – Nyonkopa Cocoa Buying
CSR Award for Education – Vodafone Ghana
CSR Award for Production Standardization – Unilever Ghana
CSR FMCG of the Year – Guinness Ghana
CSR Insurance Company of the Year – Prudential Life Insurance
CSR Manufacturing Company of the Year – Guinness Ghana
CSR Telecom Company of the Year – MTN Ghana
CSR Practitioner of the Year – Gabriel Opoku-Asare
CSR e-Commerce of the Year – QNET
CSR Initiative of the Year – Ghana Garden and Flower Movement
CSR Company of the Year- MTN Ghana
CSR CEO of the Year- Yolanda Cuba of Vodafone Ghana
