NB Plc’s 2022 empowerment programme offering decent work, economic growth
By Godfrey Ofurum
The 2022 edition of the Women and Youth Empowerment programme of Nigerian Breweries Plc is now in progress, according to the largest brewer in the country.
The programme, which is in line with its corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives, will see a total of 412 beneficiaries, including women and youth from six locations – Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, Abia, Enugu and Ogun States – benefit from an intensive three month skills acquisition training, that is billed to end on October 30, 2022.
Sade Morgan, corporate affairs director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, explained that the brewing firm, through the programme, empowers youth and women in the host communities, leading to decent work and economic growth, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“As we flag off the 2022 edition of our Youth and Women Empowerment Programme, we look forward to the dividends that this initiative will bring to the various areas, where the beneficiaries live. Based on the success of the previous editions of the programme, we cannot wait to share the great stories that will inevitably be told about how a new wave of young men and women were able to create economic value for their communities and the society at large,” Morgan said.
Beneficiaries are being trained in 20 skill areas, including confectionery (baking), fishery, beads making, wig making, cosmetology, hairdressing, solar panel installation, mobile phone repairs, barbing, fashion design, marketing, block moulding, among others.
The beneficiaries would also receive start-up tools to support their entrepreneurial journey to financial independence upon completion of the 3-month intensive skill acquisition training.
Now in its fourth edition, the NB Women and Youth Empowerment Programme, which began as a pilot scheme with 100 beneficiaries in 2019, in Awo-Omamma community in, Imo State, has now empowered about 872 women and youth, drawn from seven states (Imo, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Enugu, Kaduna and Abia) and the FCT.
Appoints two new directors
Nigerian Breweries Plc has appointed two new board members, namely, Ibrahim Puri, from Nigeria and Ben Wessels Boer, from Netherlands, who will also serve as the new finance director of the company.
The company said in a notice to the Nigeria Exchange Limited, signed by Uaboi Agbebaku, company secretary/legal director, that the appointment of Ibrahim Puri took effect from August 1, 2022, and that of Ben Wessels Boer took effect from September 1, 2022.
Until his appointment, Ibrahim Puri was an executive director with United Bank for Africa (UBA), responsible for the bank’s operations in Northern Nigeria. He joins the NB Plc board as a non-executive director with over 30 years of cognate banking experience encompassing operations, marketing, retail, corporate banking, and human resource management.
On his part, Ben Wessels Boer is the outgoing finance director, Al Ahram Beverages in Egypt, where his broad financial experience was deployed towards improving efficiency and business results despite the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the company.
He started his career with HEINEKEN in 2005, as a finance management trainee and rose through the ranks, holding various senior finance roles within HEINEKEN Netherlands.
He served as manager finance of HEINEKEN Netherlands Supply in 2014 and later in America as manager, business control, in 2016.
Ben Wessel Boers replaces Rob Kleinjan, who completed his tenure as finance director, Nigerian Breweries Plc on August 31, 2022 and has been appointed finance director for HEINEKEN, United Kingdom.