He has, therefore, called on the private sector to brace itself up and partner the government which sees it as the vehicle to achieve that objective.

Mr Kyeremanten said this when he launched the 60 years anniversary celebration of Nestle Ghana in Accra at the weekend.

He said Nestle had also shown commitment to making an impact in society and commended it for its investment in human capacity development and local sourcing of raw materials for production.

The minister said the government’s intention to support and partner the private sector was evident in the 2017 budget which was aimed at reducing the cost of doing business in the country and creating growth and development.

Mrs Duplan

The Managing Director of Nestle Ghana, Mrs Freda Duplan, for her part, said the company was driven by its purpose of “enhancing the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.”

She said the anniversary was a reflection of the company’s significant contribution to nutrition, health and wellness of individuals and families, as well as other relevant sectors such as education, youth and sports and agriculture to create shared value for society.

“At Nestle, we analysed our value chain and determined that the areas of focus of greatest potential for joint value optimisation with society are nutrition development, water, environmental sustainability and people development,” Mrs Duplan said and added that it was for that reason that Nestle had committed to providing quality and safe nutrition throughout its production.

Nestle contributions

Nestle Ghana has over the years worked to improve the value propositions of its products as it is the first company to fortify Cerelac, Nido and Maggi with iron to help address micro-nutrient deficiency, especially in children.

It also promotes education and sports by being the main sponsor of the Presidential Independence Day Awards and the yearly Milo Marathon.

When it comes to job creation and creating opportunities for the youth, the company has launched the ‘My own business’ (MYOWBU) where young people are given training in sales, management, hygiene standards, safety requirement and quality levels to sell Nescafe.

In 2014, it also launched the Graduate Assessment Centre where it nurtures people to join its supply chain, finance, sales and marketing departments.