Promasidor Cares
Cowbell’s Community Commitment
As our primary milk powder brand, Cowbell - Our Milk, has demonstrated its commitment to the community through various social initiatives across Africa. From being involved in the building of water wells in Malawi, to maintaining strong educational upliftment campaigns in Nigeria, to sponsoring sports events in Ghana, Cowbell has truly been embraced as “Our Milk.”
Promasidor Zambia Gives back
Zambia, like many other Countries in Africa, has been hard hit by the HIV AIDS pandemic, which has resulted in many children finding refuge in orphanage homes around the country. As a way of giving back to the communities in which we operate and assisting the underprivileged, Sunrise Community School situated in one of Ndola’s townships was identified as a worthy cause by Promasidor Zambia.
The School has 600 children, some of whom live at the Orphanage. The children attend school in groups of 200 due to limited classrooms.
Assistance in the form of 5 million Zambian kwacha worth of assorted Promasidor products was given to the school, much to the delight of teachers and students alike.
Promasidor Malawi joins fight against child labour
The International Labour Organization estimates that 250 million children globally between the ages of 5 and 14 are working for a living, and that over 50 million children under the age of twelve work in hazardous circumstances.
Child labour has been a common practice on Malawi tobacco farms for a number of years. A three year programme was launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Malawi in an attempt to prevent tobacco farmers from using child labour. In order to achieve its objectives, it needed the support of various companies in Malawi.
One of the water wells donated by Cowbell in Malawi
Promasidor Malawi readily joined hands with fellow corporate citizens to form TECS, which stands for ‘Together Ensuring Children’s Security’. The initiative has three primary objectives: poverty alleviation, improving schooling infrastructure and the provision of clean water.
TECS is recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Global Compact and the World Labour Organization. The international aid community has shown interest in the current pilot projects under way as possible models to be used elsewhere in Malawi and the rest of Africa.
There has been considerable progress over the past two years. Community irrigation projects have helped 244 families increase their annual profits, 416 000 trees have been planted in village forests as part of the re-forestation initiative, two new schools have been built, 10 schools renovated and 33 new water wells sunk.
TECS and its members have received positive feedback from NGO’s as well as government and it is likely that funds from donor agencies will be forthcoming in the near future. The Minister of Labour in Malawi has also taken a keen interest in the project and positive corporate relationships are being built with the NGO’s who are starting to look closely at the corporate social responsibility involvement of their suppliers.
Back to TopSupporting future leaders
Stellar student, Uche Monu, was proudly
sponsored
by
Cowbell to attend the General Young
Leaders
Conference held in the United States of
America recently
Promasidor Nigeria, as a socially responsible corporate citizen, has committed to investing in the Nigerian educational sector through the various sponsorship and social responsibility projects of its brands.
Promasidor Nigeria has been active in sponsoring community activities, such as the annual National Cowbell Mathematics Secondary Schools Competition, Cowbell Grassroots Football Tournaments, schools inter-house sports across Nigeria, the Cowbell JAMB awards and the Cowbell Chocolate Reward for Excellence scheme for primary schools.
The purpose of these programmes is to drive the mental and physical development of the youth within the community – the future leaders of tomorrow.
National Cowbell Mathematics Secondary Schools Competition
The Cowbell Mathematics Competition has gained a large following over the past seven years, attracting over 15 000 entrants each year. Cowbell’s objective for sponsoring this competition is to contribute to national development by encouraging interest and improving performance in mathematics by Nigerian youths, who are the leaders of tomorrow.
The competition is conducted at both the junior and secondary school levels and is open to students between the ages of 10 to 18 in both public and private schools across Nigeria. Each school presents the top four students as entrants to the competition (two from the junior level and two from the senior level).
The competition is run in two stages. After the first stage examinations, the best three students in both the junior and senior categories in each state, a total of 222 students from across the entire country will emerge as the State Champions. The State Champions will be awarded cash prizes of N15 000, N10 000 and N5000 respectively, including branded gift items, school bags, stationery and certificates.
The National Champions emerge in the second and final stage of the competition, where the first position candidates in both the junior and senior categories are invited to a gala award ceremony in Lagos.
An additional cash prize of N10 000 is awarded to teachers who are instrumental in producing the best pupils at state level examinations. This is to further encourage teachers to improve the standard of maths instruction in schools.
Back to TopJAMB Scholarship Awards
The main objective of the Cowbell JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board) Scholarship Awards, launched in Nigeria in 2003, is to empower secondary school students by granting scholarships for tertiary study in universities, polytechnics and mono-technics.