At Unilever Nigeria, sustainability is a lifestyle.
For over a century, the corporate has woven its operations into Nigeria’s socio-economic panorama, delivering manufacturers that Brighten On a regular basis Life For All and championing a effective stability between goal and profitability.
The publishing of its 2024 Sustainability Report, themed “Doubling Down on Our Sustainability Ambition”, paints a compelling image of how the organisation has doubled down on its influence on folks, planet and profitability via its manufacturers and operations.
Within the Chairman’s assertion, Unilever Nigeria Plc underscores its perception that companies should serve society by making constructive influence. It reads partly, “As we current our 2024 Sustainability Report, we reaffirm our dedication to creating long-term worth, not only for shareholders, however for society as a complete.”
Unilever Nigeria’s proactive method to sustainability reporting, initiated in 2019, predates obligatory necessities for listed firms in Nigeria. This dedication displays the corporate’s over a century-long presence and dedication to serving generations of Nigerians via manufacturers that promote well being, hygiene and well-being.
Over A Century of Goal & Profitability -Pushed Enterprise
With over 100 years of constant operations in Nigeria, Unilever’s heritage is deeply woven into the material of Nigerian society. From its humble beginnings as Lever Brothers West Africa to its present standing because the longest-serving manufacturing organisation within the nation, Unilever Nigeria has remained dedicated to bettering the lives of generations of Nigerians.
The corporate’s heritage manufacturers, Knorr, Closeup, Royco, Rexona, Vaseline, Pears, and Pepsodent, have grow to be family staples. However past its merchandise, Unilever is delivering on a promise: To Brighten On a regular basis Life For All.
Doubling Down Our Affect
Regardless of navigating a 12 months formed by inflationary pressures and shifting client behaviours, Unilever Nigeria stayed the course. The 2024 sustainability agenda was sharper, clearer, and extra deliberate. 4 key pillars outlined the 12 months’s efforts: girls’s {economic} empowerment (Shakti), youth employability (FUCAP), localisation of enter supplies, and plastic waste discount.
Every pillar displays a deliberate effort to drive systemic change whereas aligning with the corporate’s world Development Motion Plan (GAP) 2030, which goals to ship best-in-class efficiency via market-making, unmissably superior manufacturers.
Empowering Girls and Individuals with Incapacity
{Economic} empowerment stays a cornerstone of Unilever Nigeria’s sustainability technique. The Shakti Programme, which permits girls to grow to be last-mile retailers in rural communities, continues to thrive. It has now expanded to incorporate over 13,000 girls throughout 22 states and the FCT. In a major transfer in the direction of inclusion, the programme now helps 170 individuals with disabilities. “Our ambition is obvious: nobody must be left behind within the journey in the direction of empowerment and prosperity for individuals who might have been underserved in our society,” the report famous.
As these girls prosper, so do their communities. By promoting Unilever merchandise and family names like Knorr, Pepsodent, and Vaseline, Shakti girls earn a livelihood whereas making certain important items attain distant areas. This ripple impact exemplifies how enterprise generally is a drive for good, lifting complete ecosystems out of poverty.
Youth: Constructing the Future At the moment
The way forward for Nigeria hinges on its youths. Unilever Nigeria is investing closely of their potential. In partnership with UNICEF Era Limitless (Gen U), the corporate launched the Future-X Unilever Campus Ambassadors Programme (FUCAP) in July 2023. Designed to equip younger folks with employability abilities, FUCAP has already surpassed expectations. In its pilot 12 months, ending August 2024, it engaged over 296,000 younger Nigerians, a whopping 162 % of its goal, via workshops on advertising and marketing, provide chain planning and CV constructing. By 2025, Unilever goals to succeed in 700,000 youths, arming them with the instruments to thrive in a contemporary workforce.
This initiative is greater than a company social accountability checkbox, it’s a strategic funding in Nigeria’s human capital. It’s the cultivation of a era of leaders. Because the report states, “The way forward for Nigeria rests on the potential of its youth.”
Localisation: Boosting the Nigerian Economic system
Constructing a resilient economic system requires rooting production in native soil. Unilever Nigeria is doing simply this. The agency’s Cassava Sorbitol Localisation initiative engages over 10,000 smallholder cassava farmers, strengthening the native worth chain and decreasing import dependence. At the moment, over 50% of the corporate’s uncooked supplies are domestically sourced, contributing to job creation and meals safety.
In accordance with the report, “This isn’t nearly enterprise, it’s about constructing an {economic} ecosystem that grows the Nigerian economic system, advantages all individuals throughout the worth chain, and in the end helps construct resilience into our Provide Chain community.”
Plastic Waste: From Air pollution to Progress
Plastic air pollution stays a urgent world problem, and Unilever Nigeria is tackling it head-on. In November 2024, the corporate achieved a groundbreaking milestone: accumulating extra plastic than it put into the setting via its manufacturing processes. This feat, pushed by a decade-long partnership with Wecyclers, noticed over 13,000 tonnes of plastic collected since 2014.
By way of aggressive plastic discount efforts and circularity initiatives, Unilever Nigeria is redefining how plastic waste is used, treating waste as a useful resource relatively than a burden.
“Our ambition is obvious, to guide by instance in constructing a sustainable waste-free future,” the report declares. Through the use of much less virgin plastic, innovating with recyclable packaging and collaborating with stakeholders, Unilever Nigeria is setting a benchmark for environmental stewardship within the area.
Reaching the Grassroots with Well being and Hygiene
By way of its Pepsodent Brush Day and Evening Faculty Marketing campaign, over two million kids in practically 5,000 colleges throughout 30 states and the FCT have been educated on oral hygiene. In 2024 alone, the marketing campaign reached greater than 100,000 Nigerians with free dental checkups, remedies and hygiene supplies. These interventions are usually not nearly good oral hygiene, they’re about dignity, self-confidence and preventative well being.
Governance, Development, and International Requirements
Unilever Nigeria’s 2024 Sustainability Report is greater than a file of achievements, it’s a blueprint for the longer term. The corporate’s Development Motion Plan (GAP) integrates sustainability into its core enterprise technique, specializing in 4 world priorities: Local weather, Plastics, Nature and Livelihoods. In Nigeria, these translate into actionable focus areas tailor-made to native wants.
The report adheres to rigorous requirements, together with the Worldwide {Financial} Reporting Requirements (IFRS) Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, the International Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, and the Nigerian Inventory Trade (NGX) Sustainability Disclosure Pointers, amongst others. This transparency underscores Unilever’s dedication to accountability and stakeholder belief.
Underpinning all of it is a robust governance framework and a tradition steeped in integrity, innovation and respect. Unilever’s values and behaviours are usually not simply company mantras, they’re on a regular basis working rules.
A Name to Motion
Going into the longer term, one factor is obvious, sustainability is an integral a part of companies and Unilever Nigeria is all in already. “Companies that do good, do properly,” the report says. And Unilever is strolling the speak.
Since nobody can do it on their own, Unilever Nigeria invitations stakeholders, governments, communities and residents to hitch in constructing a future the place prosperity is inclusive, well being and hygiene are widespread and environmental influence is minimised. The report notes, “As a result of when companies, communities, and governments work collectively, we don’t simply create prosperity—we create a greater future for all.”
To obtain the complete report, please click on right here.