The UN Global Compact Network Nigeria says it has entered into a strategic partnership with the Dangote Group that will see the group act as the company’s ambassador for the Sustainable Supplier Impact Programme (SSIP) in Nigeria.
The sustainable supplier impact, which is a global programme developed by the United Nations Global Compact in collaboration with Accenture to advance supply chain sustainability through upskilling participants on social and environmental sustainability topics, aims to educate and equip suppliers of large companies.
The programme was developed with the objective of helping participants achieve sustainable knowledge growth and incorporate sustainability into their business operations.
According to Accenture, 63 percent of CEOs call out the difficulty in measuring environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data across the value chain as a barrier to achieving sustainability in their various sectors.
It added that “small and medium enterprises (SMEs) embedding sustainability is critical for global prosperity, and they represent a significant opportunity for impact across the four issue areas of the UN Global Compact – human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
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“SMEs need tactical support to tackle the three most consistent barriers to accelerating sustainability progress – lack of sustainability proficiency, inadequate access to resources and limited collaboration, and this programme intends to address these challenges.”
Speaking, Naomi Nwokolo, the executive director of the UN Global Compact Network Nigeria, said, “The sustainable supplier impact programme uniquely positions enterprises to collaborate with their major company customers to take collaborative action on sustainability goals and benefit through peer-to-peer collaboration.
“We anticipate that our collaboration with Dangote will provide the beneficiaries with tangible ideas on how to incorporate sustainable design into products and services.”