Ambatovy’s support program for local companies known as Ambatovy Local Business Initiative (ALBI) has won the 2014 Excellence in Corporate Responsibility (ECR) Award in the Social Enterprise Creation category. The ceremony took place at the annual Canadian Business for Social Responsibility Summit in Toronto, Canada, at the end of November, during which Ambatovy’s operator, Sherritt, introduced the initiative. ALBI was recognized for its leading efforts and results in developing local suppliers in Madagascar.
ALBI was created to support local businesses through training, mentoring and capacity-building programs in order to improve the quality and competitiveness of their products. This initiative implements Ambatovy’s policy “Buy locally, hire locally”. Some noteworthy results include:

  • Awarding over USD 2 billion in local contracts since 2007
  • Awarding approximately 700 contracts (worth USD 440 million) to local suppliers in 2013
  • Registering more than 2,700 local suppliers representing 40 business lines in Ambatovy’s supplier database
  • Providing professional training to over 500 local individuals and local small businesses
  • Developing bulk purchasing centres that sell produce from over 3,000 farmers
  • Providing agricultural training to over 18,000 people, of which 49 per cent are women, including demobilized workers, farmers and individuals interested in learning to become farmers. In 2014 alone, Ambatovy trained more than 3,000 people, of which 54 per cent are women.

The Excellence in Corporate Responsibility (ECR) Award is Ambatovy’s second award in sustainability for 2014, following the Nedbank Capital Sustainable Business Award for Ambatovy’s biodiversity program. The ECR Award honors and rewards Canadian companies for outstanding work and dedication towards creating sustainable and ethical business practices. The ECR Awards are a result of the cooperation between a number of corporate responsibility experts such as Green Living Enterprises, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, CIRAIG (International Reference Center for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services), Natural Step Canada, Pembina Institute, SustainAbility, Corporate Knights and Bob Willard.

ALBI business Training