This month the focus has been women, basically celebrating women who came before us, the women that are there now and inspiring our daughters to be the women we want them to become. Coca-Cola shared their piece and shared their milestones in their empowerment journey. The Coca-Cola Company and its partners are proud to celebrate exceeding its 5by20 goal by enabling the economic empowerment of more than 6 million women around the world. 34% (just over 2 million) of those women enabled by the 5by20 program live and do business in Africa. Aimed to train women. In Kenya, a partnership with the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) established in 2014 and rooted in a shared interest in creating a fair equitable environment to help women overcome barriers and build sustainable businesses, aimed to empower 1 million women through entrepreneurship training and access to capital investment. Patricia Obozuwa, Vice-President: Public Affairs, Communication, and Sustainability Coca-Cola Africa said: “Today, we celebrate surpassing our goal to reach 5 million women, but we know that there is still work to be done. Women entrepreneurs continue to face major hurdles hindering their successes, and we acknowledge that our work must therefore continue, particularly given the significant socio-economic disruption created by the pandemic in so many communities around the world.” Who did it help? 5by20 aimed to assist women entrepreneurs across the Coca-Cola value chain – agricultural producers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, recyclers, and artisans – overcome challenges when establishing and growing their business. By providing access to business skills, financial services, assets and support networks of peers and mentors, women entrepreneurs are enabled to overcome social and economic barriers and succeed as entrepreneurs, while also helping create sustainable communities. The Coca-Cola Company executed 5by20, a global initiative implemented across 33 countries in Africa, where locally relevant initiatives were rolled out. The 5by20 goal was ambitious and over the last 10 years, Coca-Cola has worked with countless partners including its bottling partners, civil society organizations, government stakeholders, other private sector actors, and generous financial grants from The Coca-Cola Foundation to recipients within its Women’s Entrepreneur Empowerment priority giving tier. There are millions of women both old and young benefiting from this program and by doing so we continue to empower the next generation as women are the ones who our children look up to.
