ETHIOPIA – Coca-Cola Beverages Africa-Ethiopia, in partnership with Sumuni Creative Solution PLC, has launched a web and app-based due diligence platform that connects potential investors and entrepreneurs with startups.

The Sumuni gateway, with funding from CCBA-Ethiopia, will support about 10 startups a year with seed funding for each startup.

According to the unit’s parent company, CCBA, the platform will also generate foreign direct investment by linking potential foreign investors with Ethiopian entrepreneurs and startups.

This promotes economic integration among stakeholders, creating a value chain, and jobs for the youth.

“People matter. Our planet matters. We believe in doing business the right way by following our values and working toward solutions that benefit us all,” said Daryl Wilson, Managing Director of CCBA Ethiopia on the launch event of Sumuni.

Coca-Cola HBC unveils sustainability challenge for startups

Meanwhile on the global front, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (Coca-Cola HBC), has unveiled its Global Sustainability Challenge as part of efforts to advance a circular economy and accelerate its ‘World Without Waste’ agenda.

With call for applications now open world-wide, the Coca-Cola bottler is looking to partner with startups across the world to find the next viable, scalable packaging and packaging collection technologies.

According to the beverage giant, the winning solution will receive a monetary prize.

Commenting on the challenge, Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC, said, “As a recognised leader in sustainability, we are looking to continually raise the bar to ensure that we support the socio-economic development of our communities and make a positive environmental impact.”

In his remark, Matthieu Seguin, the Managing director of Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), said, “The beverage industry has a responsibility to take action to address the packaging challenge currently facing the world.

“In the Coca-Cola System, we have continued to work with our partners, suppliers, and key stakeholders to build and implement sustainable packaging and recycling models to frontally address these challenges.

“This competition will not only amplify the role of technology in addressing the global packaging challenge, but it will also provide an opportunity for us as Coca-Cola Hellenic Group to incubate viable start-ups and bring together a powerful ecosystem of experts and stakeholders to galvanise action towards a World Without Waste.”

The Coca-Cola Company launched the ‘World Without Waste’ initiative with an ambitious goal of helping to collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle sold globally by 2030.

Also, the initiative is in line with the company’s mission 2025 commitments, an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy that is at the heart of its operations.

In an ambitious move to accelerate its environmental sustainability priorities in 2021, the company announced its commitment to achieving net zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2040.

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