Seplat Energy Plc, a leading Nigerian independent energy company listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the London Stock Exchange, has emerged as the winner of the Sustainability, Enterprise, and Responsibility Awards (SERAS) Africa’s Education Intervention category for 2023.
The SERAS Africa is an annual project which aims to promote as well as raise awareness about the roles that organisations play with an emphasis on their responsibility towards stakeholders and the social development of Africa. It aims to substantiate the case that corporations who are socially responsible stand to gain huge benefits from the triple bottom line – economic, social, and environmental capital.
Seplat Energy was announced the winner of the award at the 17th edition of the SERAS Africa held at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos. The organisers praised the SEPLAT Teachers Empowerment Programme (STEP) for its strong impacts on Seplat Energy’s host communities and states, amongst other interventions. The company emerged tops in the category which had Julius Berger, Airtel, Dangote Sugar, Botswana Savings Bank, and TotalEnergies.
According to the organisers, Seplat Energy’s educational programmes are in alignment with the sustainable development goals/objectives 4 (SDG 4); ensure access to education of the vulnerable; reduce the number of ‘out of school’ children; and ensure improvement in the quality of education.
STEP started in 2020 and has provided 905 teachers and 87 Chief Inspectors of Education with digital teaching skills, leadership training, and income diversification; and supported the learning of over 10,000 students with new teaching skills. The other educational CSR initiatives of the company are the Seplat Pearl’s Quiz, National Undergraduate Scholarship, and Seplat Innovators programme.
Seplat Pearl’s Quiz commenced in 2012 and since then 57,875 teachers and students have been impacted by 11,575 participating schools. Scholarships worth N8.1 million have been awarded to winning secondary school students. The company has also contributed directly to improving the infrastructure of secondary schools by awarding prize money worth N101 million to winning secondary schools.
The Seplat National Undergraduate Scholarship began in 2014 for host communities, states, and the nation. Since then, the company has provided scholarships to 780 Federal and State University undergraduate students of which 34 per cent are from our host communities.
The Seplat Innovators Programme is creating STEAM Laboratories which are collaborative spaces where the study of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics can be integrated through hands-on experiences in a pure laboratory or combined classroom-laboratory setting.
Speaking on the companies listed for this year’s project, the founder of the awards, Ken Egbas, said: “These companies and dedicated professionals have shown exemplary commitment and leadership in driving sustainability across the continent. We, today, celebrate their impactful contributions. At The SERAS, we recognise the fact that the future for any business lies in the ability to successfully bridge the divide between private enterprise and public interest.”
The Director, External Affairs and Social Performance, Seplat Energy Plc, Chioma Afe, in her remark, thanked the organisers of the SERAS Africa for the recognition and show of confidence in the Seplat Energy brand. According to Afe, “Our interventions in education cut across the entire education ecosystem. Interestingly, we are not just doing something for students alone, we are also intervening in schools by developing infrastructure and equipping the teachers. We are working with the relevant state ministries and with our partners to see how we can impact every single part of that ecosystem.”
The ceremony had in attendance companies from all sectors across African economies, industry regulators, not-for-profit organisations, public sector players, and media, amongst other stakeholders.
Other members of the Seplat Energy team present at the event were: Senior Manager, Business Partnering, Diversity & Inclusion, Uche Anajemba; CSR Manager, Esther Icha; Manager, Corporate Communications, Stanley Opara; CSR Lead, Charles Ifediba; and Senior CSR Adviser, Josephine Kola-Ajibade.
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