International Breweries Plc., (IBPlc) a part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) family, has demonstrated its commitment to collaborate and partner with its stakeholders, including government, to reduce the spread and impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria.

Building on the company’s longstanding commitment to its vision of ‘Bringing People Together for a Better World’, IBPlc, in a statement, said its COVID-19 support efforts have been “based on a collaborative approach of gathering insights from our communities and stakeholders so we can provide tailored interventions with the greatest impact”.

Breakdown of the company’s donation to the governments of Anambra, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Rivers State; and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) amongst others shows: 30,000 bottles of hand sanitizers are being distributed to the states, hospitals/government institutions, and communities; 60,000 bottles of nutritious non-alcoholic beverages (Beta Malt and Grand Malt) have been donated to support the food distribution drive by the government in various states. Tens of millions of naira committed to providing medical consumables which include: COVID -19 test kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for the frontline workers and medical personnel: coveralls, hand gloves. Infra-red thermometers. N10m donated by the Trophy Stout brand (during an e-concert by TuFace) to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the procurement of test kits.

Speaking on the company’s COVID-19 intervention, Hugo Dias Rocha, Managing Director, International Breweries Plc. in the statement said, “As an organization, we are always looking to support our local communities and are positive that our donation will assist and support the government and the communities greatly in the fight against the spread of this pandemic.

“We appreciate and lend our voice to the various initiatives by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the State Governments, the private sector to which we belong and all other sectors, organizations, individual and players that have all teamed together to assist in curbing the spread of COVID-19. We stand with you, and indeed the world, in the joint resolution to eradicate this virus and its impact on communities and economies”.

In the same vein, Temitope Oguntokun, Legal and Corporate Affairs Director, said, “Our longstanding commitment to our core values of Health, Safety, Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), readily serves us in this trying time. We will continue to drive COVID-19 awareness and interventions with our employees and in our communities. A number of the donations have been distributed across the states and communities while some are still ongoing”.

Oguntokun said aside from the donations, IBPlc has been supporting its employees with resources and consistent COVID-19 information to stay safe and healthy. In addition, she informed that as part of the company’s other ongoing collaboration against the virus, the company, through its International Breweries Foundation is currently engaging with government and other stakeholders on the production of local face masks.

“We believe this intervention will go a long way to reduce the further spread of the virus while also boosting our already challenged economy through youth entrepreneurship”.