March 8, Accra – International Women’s Day highlights the private sector’s crucial role in advancing the economic inclusion of women in Africa.

At Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), we use our industry leadership to be part of the solution for positive change on the African continent. Our aim is to create greater shared opportunity for the business and the communities we serve across the value chain.

We understand that our business can only thrive when the communities we serve thrive too. This is why we have made economic inclusion of women one of the pillars of our sustainability strategy at CCBA.

Across our value chain, we are working to improve skills and business knowledge for women, which in turn can help give them access to more opportunities.

For example, in Tanzania we have an economic inclusion programme called Mwanamke Shujaa (“A Brave Woman”), which provides training and mentorship to woman food vendors, as well as tools of the trade to enable them to grow their businesses. Training covered key areas like bookkeeping, customer care, stress management and capital growth.

In Ethiopia, female engineering students have joined our “Women in Engineering” trainee programme which will give them development opportunities and exposure to the company’s world-class operations, setting them up for future employment.

Through our partnership in Ghana with Girls in Science and Technology (GIST, CCBA subsidiary Voltic aims to reach women at different levels of education, providing them with the mentorship and coaching they need for a successful and impactful Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) career.

In South Africa, we have established a bursary fund at the University of Pretoria to support female students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds in their final year of engineering studies.

In Mozambique, a group of  women plastic waste collectors completed a 12-week training course in an economic inclusion programme supported by CCBA. These women have since educated their communities about the positive effects of recycling.

We will continue to focus on creating a better shared future, to grow and sustain small businesses and enhance livelihoods, resulting in increased economic value and business capability for women, communities and our business system.

We believe this holistic approach, within and outside our organization, drawing on the ability of everyone to inspire inclusion, is a powerful formula for change.

“In an age of increasing digitalization, climate change concerns and health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the critical importance of scientific and technological capacity is more evident than ever,” according to a World Bank article on the subject.

“Individuals with advanced skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are crucial to push us to new frontiers as well as tackle urgent challenges. However, the potential of one group has been consistently under-harnessed in this regard: women.”

The authors say only 30% of science professionals in sub-Saharan Africa are women. Research has shown several factors contributing to the underrepresentation of women in STEM – negative stereotypes about girls’ and women’s capability in STEM fields, discrimination against women in the classroom and workplace and traditional gender roles that place the burden of domestic responsibilities disproportionately on the shoulders of women, leaving them less time to work in labs, attend conferences and build networks.

Removing these barriers is an essential step towards closing the gender gap and giving women an equal chance at succeeding in STEM.

CCBA’s Managing Director of Voltic (GH) Ltd, Flora Jika, said CCBA was committed to playing its part in promoting the advancement of women in the sciences.

“Because women are integral to our continent’s shared success, we seek to empower women and girls throughout our markets on the continent,” Jika said.

“Our aim is to create greater shared opportunity for the business and the communities we serve across the value-chain. Opportunity is more than just money, it’s about a better future for people and their communities everywhere on the African continent.”

In Ghana, Voltic (GH) Limited has partnered with the Girls Excellence Movement (GEM) to increase impact in the lives of women and children in the communities where it operates. GEM is a team of dynamic Ghanaian, Nigerian, Tanzanian, American and British young professional volunteers who devote their skills, time, and other resources to delivering carefully curated capacity building programmes for girls.

GEM’s vision is to inspire, educate, mentor, and inform girls to help them become change leaders. It develops girls into excellent, independent, confident, well informed, and fearless women who are able and willing to take on leadership in all spheres of life, particularly careers in the STEM fields.

Under the partnership, GEM and Voltic organized their first Inspiration-On-Wheels outreach to Comboni Technical Vocational Institute (COMBOTECH) at Sogakope in the Volta Region of Ghana in 2022.

Discussions during the session covered various topics, including menstrual health and their rights online, STEM subjects and careers, sexual assault awareness and how to effectively engage with the team of mentors. The girls were also given free sanitary pads and mathematical sets.

Voltic has also partnered with the non-profit organization Girls in Science and Technology (GIST).

GIST’s mission aligns with Voltic’s passion for women and youth empowerment, providing them with the mentorship and coaching they need for a successful and impactful STEM career, and exposing them to opportunities in the STEM industry.

Voltic supports GIST with internship opportunities for female STEM students who fit in the company’s operations. Voltic also partners with GIST to organize empowerment campaign programmes for girls in secondary and tertiary institutions in Ghana.

In 2022, GIST also launched the GIST-UMaT Chapter in Takoradi. The aim was to promote the participation of young females in STEM, to increase their interest in the career opportunities available to them. This chapter seeks to create a community where the girls have blueprint role models to look up to. It will also expose them to internship opportunities to give them the head start they need for a successful STEM career.

Referring to the successes of CCBA’s women empowerment programmes, Jika said: “By investing in women’s economic empowerment, we have created shared value in hopes of a better shared future – enabling improved livelihoods for women, their families, and their communities, while inclusively expanding our business.

“Our aim is to boost income, provide decent earning potential and improve skills and business knowledge for women, resulting in them accessing other opportunities.”

The seminar, held under the theme “The Career Woman; Balancing for Growth”, was an interactive session where women were able to share their experiences and the challenges of maintaining a balance between work and their personal lives.

Managing Director Flora Jika, who is also the patron of the company’s Women in Leadership team, encouraged participants to grow their network in the workplace and work towards improving daily in their personal lives.

“CCBA is committed to creating inclusive opportunities for women in our communities and in the business because they are integral to our continent’s shared success,” said Jika.

The Women in Leadership programme was established to groom women employees for leadership roles and develop their competencies in support of CCBA’s target of 50% women leaders by 2025.

Participant Larissa-Ann Lartey expressed her satisfaction after the seminar. “It was a nice experience. Especially hearing different experiences and tips on issues that specifically affect women in the world of work,” she said.

An example of CCBA’s focus on women in creating inclusive growth opportunities for communities is the company’s participation in the Coca-Cola 5by20 programme, which set a global goal to economically enable five million women by 2020.

The programme exceeded its goal – in total, six million women around the world gained access to business skills, financial services, assets and support networks of peers and mentors, giving them the confidence, skills and resources to thrive while also helping to create sustainable communities.

In its markets, CCBA contributed significantly by supplying two million women entrepreneurs with foundational business skills, coaching and support.

The company has now adopted the three pillars of education, employability and entrepreneurship as a framework for its economic inclusion strategy.

The aim is to boost income, provide decent earning potential and improve skills and business knowledge for women, resulting in them accessing other opportunities.

About 300 young women students took part in the session, where they were able to find out more about questions they had for the team, ranging from financial aid to career progression in STEM beyond the scope of medical school.

Quality Assurance, Quality Controller at Voltic, Thelma Asiama, shared some of the challenges women face in pursuing a STEM career.

“It is not easy, but you have to persevere; I have built my career in this field, and so can you,” she said.

Eunice Nyarko, HR Business Partner at Voltic, talked about the wide range of opportunities in STEM fields. She said: “There are countless opportunities within this space; all you have to do is be determined.”

Expressing his appreciation to Voltic, the school’s Assistant Headmaster said, “We are grateful for this opportunity to share first-hand experiences with our female students. I believe this would guide them in making informed career choices”.

According to a recent article published by the World Bank, just 30 per cent of science professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa are women, and this needs to change for the continent to develop to its full potential.

“In an age of increasing digitalization, climate change concerns, and health crises such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the critical importance of scientific and technological capacity is more evident than ever.

“Individuals with advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills are crucial to push us to new frontiers and tackle urgent challenges. However, the potential of one group has been consistently under-harnessed in this regard: women.”

Believing that women are critical to Africa’s shared success, the subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa has supported women’s career development in STEM fields.

Earlier this year, Voltic joined the non-profit organisation Girls in Science and Technology (GIST) to launch the GIST- University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa chapter.

The programme introduced GIST to students at the university and promoted their participation in STEM while sparking their interest in the endless career opportunities available to them.

The programme also provided mentorship and guidance to girls from elementary school through to various universities.

Meanwhile, schoolgirls in Takoradi got a taste of a future in science and technology when they participated in a robotics training session sponsored by Voltic last year.

The 64 girls between ages 15 and 19 enjoyed a hands-on lesson in robot building to inspire them to pursue further studies and a career in the male-dominated STEM fields.

The women further enjoyed  an initial  GHS 20.000 each for a personal pensions to be managed by United Pensions Trustees