Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC has held the first ‘Supplier Sustainability Forum’ in Accra. The Forum engaged suppliers on its Sustainability Agenda and how the bank demonstrates Diversity and Inclusion in its businesses.
Present at the Forum were some of the bank’s suppliers, business banking clients, NGOs and representatives from the Association of Physically Challenged and Albinism.
At the Forum, the bank shared plans for improving the lives of 1 billion people and their communities by unleashing the full potential of women and small businesses in its core markets. This includes providing equitable access to financial support for women and small business by accelerating the provision of quality financial services to women, purposefully connecting SMEs to international markets, and building partnerships to expand the reach and scale of financial services.
The Forum’s essence was to share the bank’s plan for supplier diversity. Working with more diverse suppliers drives greater economic participation and positive social and community impacts. However, small companies do not always have the same opportunities to pitch for work with large organisations. The bank hopes to change this by ensuring the provision of equal access to diverse suppliers in the procurement processes: by partnering with organisations that provide guidance on best practice and help connect with more diverse suppliers, as well as providing support on how to meet the requirements.
Susan Tew, Supply Chain Management’s Head of Sustainability and Training, Standard Chartered Bank PLC, took participants through the bank’s Supplier D&I standards, focusing on the five pillars: namely the Commitment to Inclusion of Diverse Suppliers in the Procurement Process; Alignment to Suppliers D&I Standards and Compliance; Legislation, Regulation or Local Laws; Commitment to Continuous Improvement of Supplier D&I Practices; Supplier Support and Development; and Commitment to Measurement and Sharing of Progress.
Asiedua Addae, Head-Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing said: “We are committed to lifting participation through supplier diversity and inclusion. In collaboration with our NGO partners and through our Futuremakers programmes we provide education and support to SME and female businesses, helping them acquire the capabilities to succeed”.
To ensure that our suppliers impart their various partners, there was knowledge-sharing and communication of successes by participants who attended the forum. The data gathered at the forum will be used in the bank’s vendor management discussions to drive improvement.
