Dow Makes Progress In Africa

Stephane Paquier, president, Dow Africa, has noted that the positive results chalked by his outfit on the African continent have succeeded in validating its investments.

Commenting on Dow's 2012 first quarter report, he noted: 'With continuing double-digit growth in key sectors such as Agricultural Sciences, we will focus on developing business in our strategic markets on the continent and bringing our solutions to an ever-increasing number of customers to help enhance their productivity and competitiveness.'

Some highlights of the group for the first quarter of 2012 revealed that the Dow Water and Process Solutions (DW&PS) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) team visited Zanzibar to attend the inauguration of a renewable energy-powered Reverse Osmosis (RO) seawater desalination plant and hosted a technical seminar on 'Seawater Desalination and Wastewater Reuse.'

In collaboration with Mörk Water Solutions and other partners, DW&PS provided financial assistance, required technology and specialized expertise and training to create an RO seawater desalination plant which is powered by solar panels or wind turbine, and produces quality potable water to feed 400 to 500 children with safe drinking water on a daily basis.

The self-sufficient plant offers a cost-effective sustainable solution to Zanzibar's drinking water challenges.

In the area of social investment, Dow reinforced its commitment to promoting South Africa's science and technology sector by donating R600,000 to the University of the Witwaterand's (Wits University) School of Chemistry.

The donation will be used to fund chemistry students' tuition fees and provide access to students who would otherwise be unable to afford university fees.

Also Dow East Africa, in collaboration with the University of Nairobi in Kenya, supported the 'Second Conference of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) http://www.chemistry2011.org/ Celebrations which centered around the theme: 'Popularising Chemistry with Respect to Vision 2030.' This follows a successful Dow-funded launch event at the university last year, in celebration of the 2011 IYC.

The collaboration aims to advance the understanding and appreciation of chemistry's central role in society, with this year's initiative further reinforcing Dow's relationship with the university.

Dow further participated as gold sponsor in the 'Supply Chain Opportunities: a partnership for Egypt and the U.S.' conference in Cairo, Egypt.

Over 200 Egyptian companies participated and 650 people attended including representatives from the General Authority of Investments, the Federation of Egyptian Industries, the Industrial Modernization Center and several government officials.

The event focused on commercial opportunities for partnership - particularly engaging high standard Egyptian companies with top tier American investors.

 By Samuel Boadi