In a remarkable year marking its 15th anniversary, Access Bank (Ghana) PLC has solidified its leadership in sustainable development and social impact.
Last Friday, 15 November, the bank received seven prestigious awards at the 2024 Sustainability & Social Investments Awards (SSI Awards) held at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, highlighting its commitment to innovative and impactful green initiatives.
Access Bank’s flagship project, ‘A Sandal More for a Better Tomorrow’, which began in 2023, earned three notable awards: SSI Project of the Year (Education), Best Company in Recycling Education & Practices, and Innovative Project of the Year.
The project, one of the bank’s CSI initiatives seeks to donate over 20,000 sandals in its phase two to underprivileged school children across the country this year, after donating thousand sandals in phase one last year.
It presents an innovative way to upcycle used car tyres into quality, eco-friendly school sandals aimed at providing comfortable footwear to deprived school children.
An exciting feature of the second phase of the project is the ‘Better Tomorrow Truck’, which is distributing sandals across all 16 regions of Ghana.
The truck is visiting 200 schools selected by one of our project partners Ghana Education Service (GES) and suggestions from staff of Access Bank and through our social media engagement, ensuring that the initiative reaches truly deserving children across Ghana.
Furthermore, to offset the emissions from the Better Tomorrow Truck’s journey, Access Bank (Ghana) Plc and its partners, Rana Motors and Horseman Shoes, have committed to planting trees in all schools visited across all 16 regions, demonstrating the project’s dedication to environmental sustainability.
The project has also created sustainable jobs for over 500 local shoemakers in the Ashanti Region who are responsible for producing the sandals, demonstrating the concept of waste-to-wealth. This concept is at the core of our impact on circular economy models, which aim to reduce environmental impact by reusing, recycling and recovering resources rather than discarding them.
This further emphasises the project’s dual focus on social impact and economic empowerment. The innovative ‘Sandal More’ project contributes to the achievement of several SDGs, including SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
In other landmark wins, Managing Director Olumide Olatunji was named ‘SSI CEO of the Year’ for his visionary leadership and his support on environmental and social initiatives the bank champions across the country.
‘A Sandal More for a Better Tomorrow’ has so far achieved remarkable milestones, notable among them are 125 schools in 13 regions reached, over 11,000 sandals delivered to schoolchildren, over 200 trees planted, over 60,000 children sensitised on waste recycling, environmental sustainability and benefits of tree planting.
Additionally, out of the over 4,000 car tyre waste collected, 1,994 tyres and trees planted has resulted in carbon offset of approximately 56,614kg of CO2, which is equivalent to emissions from 12 cars driven a year, the electricity usage of 6,600 homes for a month or the energy used by 3.7million LED lightbulbs left on for a day.
In his remarks, Olumide Olatunji expressed gratitude for the recognition, stating: “These awards come at a time when we are celebrating 15 years of empowering lives and advancing sustainable development. We remain committed to providing sustainable financing, inspiring Africa, empowering connections and promoting Go Green initiatives to build a greener, more sustainable future for all.
“We believe in the power of small actions contributing to great impacts. This is evident in our initiatives in empowering children. Access Bank firmly believes in children as the strength of our country as they are the architects of a brighter tomorrow. This informs our dedication to empowering children so they can be well-prepared to make meaningful contributions to the future of Ghana.”
Access Bank Ghana’s Menstrual Health Hygiene Campaign in partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES), STEM Education for Girls with Soronko Academy, and Coding for Kids in collaboration with Amalitech also won the bank the Best Company in Girl Child Education & Empowerment.
While these projects continue to champion gender equity and equip young girls with essential skills to excel in STEM fields and beyond, they have collectively impacted over 170,000 school children across the country.
In addition, Oluwaseun David-Akindele, Head of Corporate Communications, was awarded the SSI Sustainability Professional of the Year. “We could not have achieved this without the support of all our partners on our various sustainability projects.
At Access Bank, we believe in the power of partnerships to drive meaningful impacts. A special thank you to all our partners, management and staff, customers and our social media community for their unflinching commitment to achieving these remarkable feats,” he said.
Celebrating 15 years of delivering innovative banking solutions and community impact, Access Bank Ghana’s achievements this year underscore its unwavering dedication to sustainability and development.
Access Bank Ghana’s award-winning initiatives highlight its holistic approach to sustainability, addressing critical areas such as education, environmental stewardship, gender empowerment, health, entrepreneurship, and cultural preservation.
As the bank marks this milestone anniversary, it remains committed to driving social impact and sustainable development for years to come, earning the trust and admiration of communities and stakeholders alike.
