DANGOTE CEMENT UNVEILS NEW SUSTAINABILITY REPORT, ADOPTS GRI, NSE GUIDELINES

Dangote Cement Plc (DCP), the largest listed
company on The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the leading cement
conglomerate in Africa, has released its 2018 Dangote Cement Sustainability
Report,   outlining its sustainability initiatives, activities and
achievements during the 2018 financial year.

The report was unveiled on 30 May
2019, at the maiden edition of ‘Facts Behind the Sustainability Report’ (FBSR),
an interactive forum created by The Nigerian Stock Exchange to further promote
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance and reporting among
listed companies in Nigeria, in line with its newly introduced NSE
Sustainability Disclosures Guidelines.

Dangote Cement Plc, Nigeria’s
biggest indigenous company, aims to make the culture of sustainability a
business imperative through its 7-Pillar approach to Sustainability, called
“The Dangote Way”.

DCP is also committed to aligning
its operations with the group-wide sustainability vision, driven by its 7
Sustainability Pillars, through extensive engagements with internal and
external stakeholders. The 2018 DCP sustainability report covers the financial
and non-financial performance in four countries: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Senegal and
South Africa.

By aligning with the 7 Pillars
(institutional, cultural, operational and environmental, economic, social,
financial), DCP ensures that every aspect of its business is run in line with
global sustainability principles; thereby embedding sustainability in its
day-to-day business operations.

Group MD, Dangote Cement Plc,
Engr. Joseph Makoju said, “We have identified and are leveraging sustainability
to drive regulatory compliance, proactive risk management and building trust
and goodwill in the countries, markets and communities where we operate.”

The CEO of the NSE, Oscar N.
Onyema, OON, said: “Better ESG reporting is key to strengthening capital
markets and achieving a sustainable global economy. We are happy to launch the
NSE Facts Behind the Sustainability Report to facilitate more meaningful
engagement between investors and listed companies on ESG risks and
opportunities.

“We welcome the Executive
Management of Dangote Cement Plc for the maiden edition of FBSR to brief the
investing community on details of their first ever stand-alone sustainability
report. We believe this will encourage other listed companies to come for their
FBSR at The Exchange.”

DCP’s performance in the
institutional pillar in 2018 shows a consistent focus on upholding corporate
governance that is in line with global best practice and evolving regulations
in its different markets.

In the year under review, DCP
aligned its 7 sustainability pillars with global principles and standards
including the United Nations Global Compact, IFC Performance Standards, Global
Reporting Initiative, SEC Code of Corporate Governance, NSE Sustainability
Disclosure Guidelines, Global Cement and Concrete Association, Nigeria Code of
Corporate Governance 2018 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

On DCP’s cultural pillar, 2018
saw tremendous progress in efforts to build a workplace where diversity,
equality, values, ethics, rule of law and active staff involvement are
nurtured.

Group Chief, Sustainability,
Dangote Industries Limited, Dr. Ndidi Nnoli, said: “The Dangote Sustainability
Approach prioritises Compliance Assurance and involves extensive stakeholder engagement.
In 2018, beyond our global peer review, we carried out a comprehensive employee
survey which targeted a diverse group of 1170 employees across twelve
countries. We identified the topics that Dangote Cement employees considered to
be material to our business. In 2019, our engagement is including external
stakeholders.”

Dangote Cement’s pilot
Sustainability Week was held in September 2018 with over 500 employees in about
6 countries involved in community development projects.

DCP’s performance in the
operational and environmental pillars showed progress in its commitment to
innovation in production processes and standards, particularly in Operational
Health and Safety. With a distribution chain of over 500 super-distributors and
7,000 sub-distributors, DCP controls Nigeria’s largest supply chain, making the
company a major contributor to local content. Also in 2018, 57% of DCP’s
procurement was from local contractors, vendors and suppliers.

Likewise, DCP is committing more
resources to its continuous improvement strategy, in line with growing concerns
about energy efficiency, resource optimisation, circular economy, extended
producer responsibility, carbon emissions and climate change. In 2018, DCP won
the SERAS Award for best company in Supply Chain Management.

In addition, DCP also enhanced
its economic and social impact in 2018, with over N1.4 billion new investments
in social projects and nearly 1,000 students benefitting from Dangote
scholarships in its Nigerian operations alone.

The organisation is building
lasting relationships with host communities, enhancing their socio-economic
wellbeing and sustaining its social license to operate. The cement giant also
continues to improve on its health and safety standards in the workplace and in
local communities as well as its investments in human capital development.

To ensure data integrity, DCP engaged the services of several consulting firms, including Deloitte Nigeria, Deloitte Poland, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and the Global Reporting initiative (GRI) in the validation of its sustainability report.https://allafrica.com/stories/201905311084.html