By rlg rides on CSR to deepen presence in Nigeria
To penetrate the highly competitive Nigerian ICT hardware market, rlg Communications, producer of communications equipment such as mobile handsets, electronic notebooks, tablets, laptops, LCD TV monitors and other accessories is using a great churn of its resources for corporate social responsibility.
In the last two years of its entry into the Nigerian market, rlg has been involved in capacity building and training. Of note, is the strategic partnership with Osun State government, where rlg is building a computer and mobile phone assembly plant to train youths in applied ICT, under the Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYESTECH). A couple of months ago, the company sponsored the “Put A Smile On Their Faces” event, an initiative of the Put A Smile on their Faces Foundation in which money and ICT devices were donated to homes catering for children with special needs.
In Lagos, rlg sponsored the BRT free bus ride for Lagosians, where residents were transported free for one month on selected routes. Because of the success of the BRT free bus ride and the attendant clamor for it to continue, rlg decided to replicate the free ride exercise in Osun State. Under the Osun State exercise, commuters will be conveyed between Osogbo and neighboring towns using the branded mini buses popularly called Korope that are prevalent in the State.
Apart from free bus ride, rlg is also offering scholarships to students. As well as sending a selected number of the graduates of the OYESTECH programme to their assembly plant in Ghana for further training which ordinarily is outside their terms of reference with regards to the OYESTECH programme.
Responding to questions on why rlg is paying so much attention to corporate social responsibility, Barr. MandilasDidam, Legal and Corporate Affairs Manager of rlg Nigeria said, apart from the associated benefits of CSR, it’s just the right thing to do because without the community where organisations operate, the organisation is nothing. “We have spared no expense in this regard since our incursion into the Nigerian market,” he added.
