Corporate social responsibility is interwoven into our business model and enshrined in our dedicated CSR policy called “Our Commitments”. The group CSR committee under the direct sponsorship of the Chairman of the board and chaired by the Managing Director consists of 10 executives, including ACWA Power’s Executive Director of CSR, representatives of the corporate business development and legal teams, and representatives from each of our main business regions: Morocco, South Africa, Jordan, Turkey and Oman. The committee includes an independent external advisor who provides a fresh, independent and critical external perspective.
At the local and project levels, ACWA Power has implemented a framework of socio-economic development standards and guidelines to be adopted at the commencement of operations in a new country. Each framework is based on local context and needs around education, health and training programs, partnerships and foundations. We understand the need for, and the value created by our investments in the communities where we operate in order to encourage self-reliance at the local level. This approach supports our effective integration with local communities and maintains our license to operate for generations to come. ACWA Power’s community investment activities are aligned with the goals and objectives of local, provincial and national governments. ACWA Power’s focus is to support local and regional communities by improving their members’ technical skills and employability; enhancing local infrastructure; engaging in charitable donations; and nurturing financial sustainability. This creates shared value by aligning our stakeholders socioeconomic improvements with ACWA Power’s core business objectives. We also enable the adoption and transfer of our good sustainability practices across our chain of global operations.
The program has evolved and matured since its inception in 2012 and now covers simple one-off sponsorships through to complex multi-year projects. Full details are contained in our 2014 sustainability report.
ACWA Power’s CSR program in Saudi Arabia includes a blend of supporting and sponsoring a range of sector conferences, educational institutions, community needs (as detailed in the 2014 sustainability report) plus two long term projects; namely Namaa Al Manawara and the Higher Institute of Water and Power (HIWPT).
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, RAWEC
The programme’s main objective is to develop the skills and employability of Saudi youth. We provided training to five Saudi students, who were then hired by the Emad Ba Wazier construction company, which supplies young Saudi technicians to the market.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Al Madinah AlMunawara Region
Namaa AlMunawara, the implementation arm for Waqf Al Munawara (Al Munawara Endowment), enables sustainable socio-economic development in the Al Madinah AlMunawara region by supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are considered to be one of the most vibrant and important sectors in the Kingdom because they generate work opportunities and drive the economy.
Namaa Al Munawara’s initiatives include the Industrial City initiative for supporting retail sales; another for supporting Madinah-made products; manufacturing and creativity labs – comprising fully integrated workplaces dedicated to the women of Madinah – for nurturing women’s employment and creative capabilities; and the One-Stop Shop, which provides the various governmental and consultancy services that entrepreneurs may need under one roof.
The almond plantation initiative in Ouarzazate has rehabilitated and treated more than 120,000 trees since 2015 and helped local farmers by doubling production and boosting sales. Treatment of the trees was carried out by the plot owners, who were equipped, trained and paid to work their own plantations.
The initiative is typical of ACWA Power’s long-term and sustainable approach:
• Farmers are hired to work their own land
• Long-term income for farmers
• An automated almond crushing unit has been built and handed over to the local union
• ACWA Power financed a working capital facility so the union can buy almonds from the farmers
The Benban Market Renovation Project is enhancing community living standards by improving the market’s infrastructure such as shades, toilets and barricades. It supports vendors and encourages local employment and economic growth.
The Marine Conservation Initiative, with Hassyan Clean Coal and the Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG), is improving marine coastline protection and monitoring, as well as boosting environmental awareness:
• Monitoring of fauna
• Coral reef rehabilitation
• Turtle nesting season and turtle release event for students and community members
• Mangrove tree planting
• Beach cleaning
• Supporting local leisure and cultural activities
Sponsored and developed by ACWA Power, a 100 bed integrated hospital was built in only 57 days by our expert team using both ingenuity and agility to ensure its completion ahead of schedule, while ensuring the highest level of safety measures on site.
We are proud to play our role in supporting the health and wellbeing of the community, under the guidance and directives of our great Saudi leadership, Ministry of Health and the Saudi Ministry of Energy which has facilitated this valuable public-private partnership effort. We are truly thankful to HRH Prince Faisal Bin Salman, Governor of Madinah Province for enabling the smooth progress of our initiative to support the Saudi medical sector’s efforts to curtail the spread of COVID19.
In September 2014, ACWA Power was one of the first private entities to pledge our support to the SAR1 billion endowments to develop and empower the SME sector in the Madinah region of Saudi Arabia. ACWA Power has committed to providing SAR 15M to the program over a 3 year period starting in 2014. The launch of the non-profit organization Namaa Al Manawara will support SMEs in the region.
The Higher Institute for Water and Power Technologies (HIWPT) is a vocational training institute founded by ACWA Power and located in Rabigh, KSA. HIWPT is our flagship initiative and has been our priority CSR project since 2010. The Institute was established as a not-for-profit technical institute aimed at the training and upskilling of young Saudis (see photos alongside) to work as operators and technicians in the field of water desalination and power technologies. As of the end of 2014, more than 200 trainees had graduated with a further 150 in training and just over 100 progressing through the On-Job-Training phase.
The Institute has been successful in securing employment for all trainees as they are matched with sponsors from the start. The continued success of HIWPT is assured by the strong strategic partnerships that have been established between the Institute and government authorities, water and power sector partners, industry leaders, equipment manufacturers, international training providers and plant operators.
Shuqaiq Water and Electricity Company (SqWEC) sponsored specialty medical equipment and the visiting doctor program for the Optometric Center (December 2010)
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