MEDIATRACNET
Sahara Group, one of Nigeria’s energy and infrastructure conglomerates, has restated its commitment to promoting generational sustainability through strategic greening of its businesses across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Speaking at the unveiling of Sahara Group’s 2021 Sustainability Report titled “Maximising the Present Efficiently; Safeguarding the Future Responsibly”, Executive Director, Temitope Shonubi, said Sahara Group responded positively to its global sustainability targets through a continuous review of its operations and impact.
“At Sahara Group, we are more than a business. We inspire a green efficient future for generations by making a difference (MAD) responsibly through every thought, plan, action, and reaction. The irrepressible spirit of Sahara, as well as our ‘bridge and catalyst’ mindset for creating the extraordinary from the mundane, and providing bespoke services for all markets, was the driving force behind the significant sustainability gains we achieved in 2021,” Shonubi said.
During the year, Shonubi said Sahara Group took purposeful actions to better control its sources of greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced the efficiency of the Group’s power consumption and managed its environmental footprint in accordance with globally accepted best practices through the activities.
Apart from effectively managing its impact within host communities, to establish acceptable and consistent standards, the director said in 2021, Sahara Group initiated and implemented sustainable community development programmes for the people in the communities where it operates.
“Further, through our employee volunteer programme, we also give our employees the opportunity to be fully engaged and contribute meaningfully to community development. More than 170 Sahara employees from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East have devoted over 15,000 hours of volunteer service to the Foundation’s sustainable development projects,” he added.
The Director, Governance and Sustainability at Sahara Group, Ejiro Gray, said the ideals of social responsibility, environmental impact management as well as transparent and accountable governance underscore the Sahara Group’s sustainability initiatives.
Gray said Sahara Group continually sought ways to improve energy efficiency in its operations, reduce emissions from its power plants, preserve biodiversity, manage its waste in a sustainable manner, and instill a culture of environmental stewardship in its employees.
“In 2021, for instance, one of our businesses utilized our Intelligent Data Box (IDB), which independently analyses energy consumption, thereby increasing our energy efficiency and lowering losses in a quantifiable manner. Additionally, investments were made in energy-saving light bulbs (LED) and awareness was raised regarding the need for more efficient energy/power usages,” she said.
Gray said the above had continued to translate into positive results across the Group’s power operations.
“All of these are clear indicators of our resolve to track our energy consumption at every level and to incorporate efficiency into the way we generate and use power. In addition, as part of our efforts to preserve biodiversity, we planted over 1,000 trees in different communities across Nigeria during the reporting period, with plans to embark on largescale tree planting in subsequent years,” she added.
Gray noted that the Sahara Foundation, which is the energy conglomerate’s social sustainability vehicle, had remained resolute in its commitment to touching lives and livelihoods, through its focus on ensuring a sustainable environment and energy access.
“The Sahara Green Life Initiative, Catch Them Young & Curious (CTYC)/ Sahara Science Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (Sahara STEAMers) Programme, Sahara Technical Regenerator Program (STRP), Africa Renewable Energy Forum, and Sahara Impact Fund that provides seed funding for young African social innovators are some of the programs implemented during the period under review.”
The Sahara Group 2021 Sustainability Report was developed in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s requirements (GRI), covering the following business lines within the Sahara Group: Midstream Operations – Sahara Trade, Upstream Operations – Asharami Energy (AE), Downstream Operations – Asharami Synergy (AS), Power (Generation and Distribution) – Egbin Power (EP), First Independent Power Limited (FIPL) and Ikeja Electric (IE).
