Coca-Cola Africa partners with African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa

This partnership is in line with Coca-Cola’s approach to continually engage the right stakeholders to ensure the company is responsive and collaborative in its water stewardship strategy.

“The Company has made significant strides in improving its water-use ratio over the past ten years, and recently announced that 3 million more people across Africa have improved access to safe water under its Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) – the largest public-private partnership focused on water in Africa,” explains Dorcas Onyango: Head of Sustainability for Coca-Cola Southern & East Africa.

Coca-Cola Africa continues to fulfil its global goal of safely returning an amount of water equal to what it uses in its finished beverages and their production to communities and nature.

Through collaborative action with over 140 partners, RAIN is in over 2 750 communities across 41 African countries. In addition to benefitting 3 million people across Africa, RAIN has economically empowered 23 000 youth and women and replenished nearly 9 billion litres of water to communities and nature annually.

For example, in Ghana, Malawi and Mali, the RAIN-supported CARE Water Smart Agricultural project is empowering women smallholder farmers through improved agricultural practices.  At least 40 000 women will benefit from increased production and improved food and water security for themselves and their families.

“However, we have much more to do, particularly as water demand and climatic challenges add pressure to managing this precious resource. We believe in solutions based on collective thinking and collaboration, which is why it is so important that we work with partners like African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa to find solutions that corporates can meaningfully contribute to,” Onyango said.

Talking about the partnership, Annemarie Roodbol, senior communications manager for African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa said “no one company or organisation can solve the world’s water issues alone. But through innovative partnerships that leverage the corporate ability to develop employment and entrepreneurship opportunities related to water access and watershed protection, we can sustainably protect and manage this vital resource.”

The full interview with Dorcas Onyango is available here on the event website.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is expected to attract more than 10 000 energy and water professionals to the Mother City this year. It is the 19th edition of this multi-award winning conference and exhibition.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is the flagship energy event organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the energy, infrastructure, mining and agriculture sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Nigeria, the Utility CEO Forums, Agritech Expo Zambia, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group and African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa form part of Clarion Energy, which runs over 40 events that cover the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, making it one of Clarion Events’ largest portfolios.

About The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. In addition to the company’s Coca-Cola brands, our portfolio includes some of the world’s most valuable beverage brands, such as AdeS soy-based beverages, Ayataka green tea, Costa coffee, Dasani waters, Del Valle juices and nectars, Fanta, Georgia coffee, Gold Peak teas and coffees, Honest Tea, innocent smoothies and juices, Minute Maid juices, Powerade sports drinks, Simply juices, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater and ZICO coconut water. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We’re also working to reduce our environmental impact by replenishing water and promoting recycling. With our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

The Coca-Cola Foundation is the global philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company. Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants to support sustainable community initiatives around the world. For more information about The Coca-Cola Foundation, please visit www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/the-coca-cola-foundation.

Dates for African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa:
Conference and expo: 14-16 May 2019
Site visits: 17 May 2019
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa