At the recent 16th edition of the program in Lagos, the Sustainability, Enterprise, and Responsibility Awards (The SEARS CSR Awards Africa) named Dangote Group, HIS Towers, and BUA Group as the most responsible companies in Africa.

The award is for the companies’ respective activities focused towards bridging the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) gap through impact investment in climate, circularity and the future of sustainability.

Dangote Group received 105 points to win The Industry Awards 2022, also known as the Most Responsible Business in Africa category in The SERAS CSR Awards Africa. HIS Towers received 100 points to place second, and BUA Group through the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative, (ASR Africa), received 82 points to place third.

The founder and CEO of The SERAS CSR Awards Africa, Ken Egbas, announced the results and stated that these three organizations deserved to win gold for their good deeds because they outperformed over 26 other organizations in the categories of climate, circularity, and approach to the future of sustainability in Africa.

Speaking to the theme: Climate, Circularity, and the Future of Sustainability: Bridging the SDGs Gap through Impact Investing, the executive director at TruCSR/The SERAS CSR Awards Africa, Mary Ephraim said, “CSR and sustainability have gone through their evolution. From philanthropy (the era of being back) to CSR (the era of giving back) to sustainability (the era of going back), and now to circularity (the era of bringing back.)

“Through these various seasons, prosperity has never been a norm absent in Africa. Despite all the problems we face as a continent, capitalists have remained largely happy. Entrepreneurs have continued to be productive. Our peculiar challenges have given rise to innovation as never seen before. For the first season in our human history, we face an existential threat to our ability to live on this planet,” she said.

Furthermore, she stated that “Before now, the conversations had been about how we could leave a befitting world for our children to inherit. But at the moment, it is how we as parents can live so that our offspring get the opportunity to survive. This is why we chose the theme,” Ephraim added.

Apart from the award for the most ethical company in Africa, Abdul Samad Rabiu, CEO of the BUA Group, earned CEO of the Year, while Cima Sholotan of Nigeria’s HIS Towers won Africa Sustainability Professional of the Year.

Other contenders for the Africa Sustainability Professional of the Year award include Diana Ondoga of Stanbic Bank in Uganda, Babatunde Dawodu of Nigerian Breweries, and Caroline Oghuma of Multichoice in Nigeria.