Olam Food Ingredients Ghana Limited (ofi), a Licensed Buying Company (L.B.C.) in Ghana’s cocoa sector and one of the lead exporters of cashew in the industry has celebrated this year’s U.N. International Women’s Day at its Cocoa Processing factory (OCP) at Kaase, with a series of exciting and impactful activities, including organizing a medical screening and enrolling about 700 women onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (N.H.I.S.) in a community outreach.
Over the years, ofi has joined the global community to observe the U.N. International Women’s Day celebration, which seeks to accelerate gender parity and recognize women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements.
This year, as part of the celebration and its corporate social responsibility, ofi organised a community outreach at the Kaase M/A School, where a durbar was held to commemorate the day. This outreach offered free medical screening and National Health Insurance Scheme (N.H.I.S.) card registration to women and children in the community.
Speaking at the programme, the President of ofi’s female network group, GROW (Globally Reaching ofi Women), Sylvia Amo-Asare, said, “as part of the corporate drive to ensure thriving communities within our operational areas, it was vital that we enhanced accessibility to healthcare by women and children within the Kaase community to support low-income households.”
The Queen Mother of Kaase, Nana Abena Konadu, applauded the efforts of ofi and urged the beneficiaries to take advantage of the opportunity to receive high-quality medical care and enroll in the National Health Insurance Scheme. Other dignitaries that graced the occasion were: Nana Kwame Owusu Ansah (Kaasehene representative), Hon. Akwanuasa Gyimah (MCE, Asokwa Municipality), Kaase Chief Imam, Alhaji Abdul Wahab, Hon. Akwasi Danso (Assembly Man), Master Cosmos Kodua (Headmaster, Kaase MA school), Representatives from Ghana Health Service, and many others.
Other activities to mark the day included a Realtalk with ofi’s Global C.E.O., Shekhar, and the Chief Human Resource Officer, Usha Kakaria – Cayeau, who had discussions on how the business was poised to embrace equity in a virtual session. There was also an empowerment session with the former Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Dr. Otiko Afisah Djaba, as a guest speaker, where she shared her career journey and life experiences with the team.
The Country Head of ofi, Mr. Eric Asare Botwe, noted that the International Women’s Day celebration is an important event on the company’s calendar because women were significant stakeholders for ofi.
“The vision is to have some diversity and inclusion in our workspaces to ensure that women are part of the growth of our business. We have actively done so over the years by empowering our women stakeholders, including the farmers and most especially our Globally Reaching ofi Women (G.R.O.W) team here in Ghana to ensure our capacity is not male-dominant in a bid to accelerate the gender parity”, Mr. Botwe noted
About ofi
ofi (Olam food ingredients) is a new operating group born out of Olam International. ofi offers sustainable, natural, value-added food products and ingredients so that consumers can enjoy the healthy and indulgent products they love. It consists of industry-leading businesses of cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices. ofi has built a unique global value chain presence including its own farming operations, farm-gate origination, and manufacturing facilities. ofi partners with customers, leveraging its complementary and differentiated portfolio of ‘on-trend’ food products, to co-create solutions that anticipate and meet changing consumer preferences as demand increases for healthier food that’s traceable and sustainable.
About Olam
Olam is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed and fiber to 17,300 customers worldwide. Its value chain spans over 60 countries and includes farming, processing and distribution operations, as well as a sourcing network of an estimated 5 million farmers.
Headquartered and listed in Singapore, Olam currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary listed companies in terms of market capitalization on SGX-ST.
Since June 2020, Olam has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series, a global sustainable investment index series developed by FTSE Russell, following a rigorous assessment of Olam’s supply chain activities, impact on the environment and governance transparency.
The FTSE4Good Index Series identifies companies that demonstrate strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and is used by a variety of market participants to create and assess responsible investment funds.