By Sandra Agyeiwaa OTOO
Access Bank PLC has forged a partnership with Horseman Shoes to revolutionise the local shoe manufacturing industry.
This partnership aims not only to enhance business operations, but also to champion environmental sustainability and education initiatives.
During the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing event between Access Bank PLC and Horseman Shoes, Kafui Bimpe, Group Head for Business Banking at Access Bank PLC, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to empowering African businesses and advocating environmental stewardship.
Mr. Bimpe noted that the collaboration aligns with the bank’s mission to support SMEs and foster a brighter future for upcoming generations.
The partnership with Horseman Shoes, he added, marks a crucial step in the Sandal More sustainability project, promising innovative solutions and positive impacts on both the local economy and the environment.
“The event is part of the bank’s programme to support businesses in Africa and to go green. So what it means is that we want to help businesses scale up and grow to levels at which they can compete internationally in Africa. The other one is Go Green. We want to make sure that people are taking care of the environment; that we’re protecting the environment and that we leave a better future for our next generation to come,” he noted.
Mr. Bimpe went on to emphasise the crucial need of supporting industries that not only promote economic growth but also prioritise sound environmental practices.
“In most developed countries, to dispose of your tyre, you need to pay for it, but over here, people just dispose of tyres and then they pollute the environment. But we have seen that they [Horseman Shoes] are creating wealth out of waste. Instead of throwing the tyres to pollute the environment, they are being very creative to change it into something that can create wealth, create employment and, therefore, help schools – especially children who are in need and who cannot afford to buy good sandals to go to school.
“That’s why we decided that let’s come into this partnership to create something new to support individuals, create jobs and also to ensure that industry continues to grow. So we’re supporting the whole ecosystem of the shoe-making industry.”
Representing a consortium of small-scale shoemakers in Kumasi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Horseman Shoes, Tonyi Senanya, mentioned that the project is set to produce 20,000 pairs of sandals out of car tyres this year.
“This meeting is basically to sign an MoU between Access Bank and Horseman Shoes and, indeed, I am representing the entire shoe-making industry in Kumasi. It is to produce 20,000 pairs of school sandals with car tyres and beyond the project. It’s also a relationship between Access Bank and the shoemakers to help us grow our businesses,” he noted.
He expressed confidence that the project will have an impact on their businesses in terms of revenue.
“This is their project, so we approached them and it fell in line with what we do. If a bank or an organisation says that they want to produce school sandals, we feel that we are better placed in the ecosystem to provide that kind of service to them. So when we heard the news, we took the initiative and told them we could give them what they wanted; and beyond just Horseman shoes, we have a wide network of small-scale shoemakers who will also benefit economically from this project.”
The Head of Corporate Communications and Branch Management at Access Bank, David – Akindele Oluwaseun, noted that the bank is very deliberate when it comes to sustainability.
“What inspired the project was to support our #GoGreen agenda, which aims to make the environment safer for the children of tomorrow. What we have done today is create an agreement with Horseman Shoes, one of the premier shoe-making brands in Ghana; and what this does for us is grow on what we did last year,” he added.
