This International Women’s Month, The Coca-Cola Company and its partners celebrated as it surp***ed its 5by20 goal by enabling the economic empowerment of more than 6 m***ion women around the world.
34% (just over 2 m***ion) of t**se women enabled by the 5by20 program live and do business in Africa. The Coca-Cola Company executed 5by20, a global initiative implemented across 33 countries in Africa where locally relevant initiatives were rolled out.
The 5by20 goal was ambitious and over the last 10 years, Coca-Cola has worked with countless partners including its bottling partners, civil society organizations, government stake**lders, other private sector actors, and generous financial grants from The Coca-Cola Foundation to recipients within its Women’s Entrepreneur Empowerment priority giving tier.
In Kenya, a partnership with the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) e****lished in 2014 and rooted in a shared interest in creating a fair equitable environment to help women overcome barriers and build sustainable businesses, aimed to empower 1 m***ion women through entrepreneurship training and access to capital investment.
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“Today, we celebrate surp***ing our goal to reach 5 m***ion women, but we know that there is st*** work to be done.” Said Patricia Obozuwa, Vice-President: Public Affairs, Communication, and Sustainability Coca-Cola Africa.
“By investing in women’s economic empowerment over the past decade, we have created shared value in **pes of a better-shared future – enabling improved liveli**ods for women, their families, and their communities, while inclusively expanding our business,” says Obozuwa
Patricia noted that Women entrepreneurs continue to face major hurdles hindering their successes, and Coca-Cola acknowledges that their work must therefore continue, particularly given the significant socio-economic disruption created by the ******** in so many communities around the world.
5by20 aimed to ***ist women entrepreneurs across the Coca-Cola value chain – helping agricultural producers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, recyclers, and artisans overcome challenges when e****lishing and growing their businesses.
By providing access to business s*****, financial services, ***ets, and support networks of ***rs and mentors, women entrepreneurs are enabled to overcome social and economic barriers and succeed as entrepreneurs, while also helping create sustainable communities.
According to Coca-Cola, the Foundation has funded some of the 5by20 initiatives, and the Coca-Cola system has worked with several partners to implement over 300 programs in 100 countries.
This has hel*** provide women entrepreneurs with business s***** training, mentoring networks, financial services, and other ***ets to help enhance their businesses and lives as well as provide more for their families.
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“By investing in women’s economic empowerment over the past decade, we have created shared value in **pes of a better-shared future enabling improved liveli**ods for women, their families, and their communities, while inclusively expanding our business,” says Obozuwa.
Coca-Cola says they are proud of the ripple effects that these programs have had on the m***ions of lives they have touched and w*** continue to have over the years to come.
In 2012, The Coca-Cola Company signed a global agreement with UN Women to enable the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in three pilot countries, which included South Africa.
At the end of the four-year partnership in South Africa in December 2016, over 25,000 women micro-entrepreneurs had received business s*****, leadership training, mentoring and ***r networking s*****, and access to finance.
According to a report by Harvard Kennedy Sc**ol Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, through this program, the entrepreneurs increased their revenues by 40% on average and increased their confidence and leadership abilities within their communities.
In Nigeria, in partnership with the UK Department for International Development Girls Education, Coca-Cola launched the Educating Nigerian Girls in Nigeria Enterprise (ENGINE) value program, which aimed to strengthen the educational and economic opportunities of the Nigerian girl-child.
Nearly 13,000 young girls and women benefitted from this program.
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