Silafrica, a leading packaging supplier to East Africa and surrounding regions and trusted supplier to some of the largest food and beverage brands like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Heineken, Unilever, and others, has become the first African-based company in the packaging industry to join the Pledge 1% movement.
Pledge 1% is a global movement that encourages and empowers companies of all sizes and stages of growth to give one percent of either their profit, equity, staff time or product to any charity of their choosing.
This global campaign is dedicated to creating a new normal, whereby giving back is integrated into the DNA of companies, regardless of their size. Comprised of more than 8,500 companies in over 100 countries, it encourages and challenges these companies to pledge one percent of equity, profit, product and employee time to their communities.
With headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya it has manufacturing hubs in Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, and serves clients in these countries as well as Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and others throughout Africa.
In making the announcement, Akshay Shah, Group Managing Director of Silafrica, stated, “We applaud the positive spirit upon which Pledge 1% was founded. Their goals and their mission of community service and support parallel those of Silafrica, whose similar vision and principles were set forth at our company’s founding more than forty years ago.”
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In recent years, Silafrica has enacted a formal set of guiding principles, which outlines the company’s vision for creating sustainable success and service. Entitled “The Silafrica Way,” it provides a roadmap for serving corporate customers and trade partners as well as community channels in Africa through the application of innovation, professionalism and entrepreneurial energy. This corporate platform is comprised of seven core values: trust, respect, integrity, passion, humility, excellence and teamwork. Shah added, “What also inspired us to join Pledge 1% was that in doing so, we could set an example for our industry peers in the region to follow.”
Peer-to-peer networking among CEOs and entrepreneurs has been a large part of the spreading of movement. However, while the Pledge 1% presence is very strong in the US, Australia, India, and Europe, it is just beginning to make inroads in Africa. Silafrica’s recent pledge is intended to accelerate that. “We’ve already been speaking with our industry’s supply chain partners and colleagues in the region, and encouraging them to become part of the movement,” Shah said.
Upon being notified of the Silafrica pledge, Amy Lesnick, Chief Executive and President of Pledge 1%, commented, “We’re delighted to have Silafrica as partners in the movement, as they represent a sizeable organization in a part of the world where we hope to have a significant impact. What’s most notable about Silafrica and their participation is how it reflects who they truly are as an organization.”
In aligning itself with Pledge 1%, Silafrica is designating one percent of its corporate profits, product and personnel time to a variety of regional charities, service projects, and community organizations. “We see this as an opportunity to raise awareness and are calling on companies large and small to do their part for their respective communities,” Shah concluded. “Silafrica looks forward to becoming a promotional voice across Africa, helping companies to recognize what we’ve known to be true for some time: that our workers are our friends and neighbors. They are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. When people and families flourish, our communities flourish and create stronger organizations within them.”
