Coca-Cola is celebrating exceeding its 5by20 goal of enabling the economic empowerment of more than 6 million women around the world. 34% of those women enabled by the 5by20 program live and do business in Africa. The 5by20 was a global initiative implemented across 33 countries in Africa, where locally relevant initiatives were rolled out.
In Kenya, a partnership with the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) established in 2014, has helped women overcome barriers and build sustainable businesses. The partnership was aimed at empowering 1 million women through entrepreneurship training and access to capital investment.
“Today, we celebrate surpassing our goal to reach 5 million women, but we know that there is still work to be done. Women entrepreneurs continue to face major hurdles hindering their successes, and we acknowledge that our work must therefore continue, particularly given the significant socio-economic disruption created by the pandemic in so many communities around the world,” said Patricia Obozuwa, Vice-President: Public Affairs, Communication, and Sustainability Coca-Cola Africa.
5by20 is aimed at assisting women entrepreneurs across the Coca-Cola value chain. By providing access to skills, financial services, assets and support networks of peers and mentors, the women entrepreneurs are able to overcome social and economic barriers.
“By investing in women’s economic empowerment over the past decade, 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. We are proud about the ripple effects that these programs have had on the on the millions of lives we have touched and will continue to have over the years to come,” added Obozuwa.
In Nigeria, Coca-Cola launched the Educating Nigerian Girls in Nigeria Enterprise (ENGINE) value program. The program was launched in partnership with the UK Department for International Development Girls Education. The initiative sought to strengthen the educational and economic opportunities of the Nigerian girl-child. Nearly 13,000 young girls and women have benefitted from this program.