Lafarge Africa Plc, a leading construction solutions company in Nigeria, has launched its debut Sustainability Report in line with the latest standard of the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G4, which makes the company one of the few in Nigeria to achieve the reporting best practice. The 2015 Sustainability Report was unveiled at the Grand Finale of the third edition of the Lafarge Africa National Literacy Competition at the MUSON Centre in Lagos, last week.
While espousing on the strategic intent for initiating the report, Chairman of Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Mobolaji Balogun, explained that sustainability is a key part of the company’s corporate strategy, both at the Group and in Nigeria. According to him “LafargeHolcim’s sustainability development strategy, also known as The 2030 Plan, remains the company’s internal roadmap on how it intends to play its own part in addressing the planet’s biggest issues as it has the opportunity and responsibility to make a positive difference”.
Speaking further, he described the Sustainability Report, which is a voluntary disclosure beyond listing requirements as “part of Lafarge Africa’s methodology of increasing our level of transparency in sharing our sustainable development performance with our stakeholders,” He also informed that the report reiterates Lafarge’s commitment to promoting best practices and engaging with the company’s internal and external stakeholders.
Explaining the rationale, the Country CEO of Lafarge Africa, Michel Puchercos, stated that “driven by our ambition to set new standards and help transform the way our industry works, this report helps us to review, prioritize and take key decisions for improving our company’s sustainability efforts”.
Declaring that sustainability sets Lafarge Africa apart in how the company intends to conduct its business in Nigeria, he explained that “It is an integral part of our operations, being one of the six pillars of our strategy in alignment with the LafargeHolcim Group’s Sustainability Strategy, which sets up on the path of Building for Tomorrow”.
While noting that 2015 was a landmark year for sustainable development, Puchercos said Lafarge Africa is happy to be launching the report for the same year when the Paris agreement held, following the COP21 conference on climate change and the launch of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Lafarge Africa is a member of LafargeHolcim Group, following the successful global merger of Lafarge and Holcim in a transaction called ‘a merger of equals’ in 2015. With operations in 90 countries and about 100, 000 employees, LafargeHolcim is the world leader in building construction materials.
