President J.E.A. Mills has lauded Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) for investing in sectors such as agriculture and water which are dear to the heart of his government.

The president said this when a Guinness delegation, led by Mr. Stuart Fletcher, the president of Diageo International, the parent company of GGBL paid a courtesy call on him at the Castel, Osu, yesterday.

“The migration of the youth to the cities continues to be a burden and so my government is happy that you are partnering the Ministry of Agriculture to provide jobs for the rural folks through the promotion of the Sorghum project in the Northern Region”, he said.

Earlier, the Diageo president, who is on a three-day working visit  to acquaint himself with the operations of GGBL, had told President Mills that because Ghana was a very important market for Diageo, the company was committed to being a responsible corporate citizen by supporting the government to address the country’s development needs.

He cited the company’s flag ship corporate social responsibility programme, the water of Life one million challenges that is committed to providing one million Africans with potable water each year.

Since its inception in 2006, three million Africans in 12 different countries, including Ghana, have been provided with potable water.

In Ghana, 350,000 Ghanaians have been provided with potable water over a three-year period through the construction of 36boreholes, as well as the distribution of hundreds of water filters. Total investment to date is GH¢1,000,000 ($700,000).

The distribution of the boreholes is also undertaken in line with government’s nation-wide approach to development.

Mr. Fletcher further mentioned that Ghana was to receive €250,000 as seed funding towards a new enterprise initiative to build a sustainable market for Crystal Pur TM, an affordable water filter that eliminates 99.99 percent of all water-borne bacteria and parasites, with no chemicals or mechanical parts.

The initiative will benefit over 250,000 Ghanaians in areas where surface water is predominantly used and water is boiled before drinking. The funding will come from the Arthur Guinness Fund, which was launched in celebration of 250 years of greatness of its iconic brand Guinness.

The courtesy call was also an opportunity to introduce Mr. Ekwunife Okoli, the new Managing Director GGBL, to president Mills.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Okoli said “In line with our plan to develop local sources for our brewing materials, GGBL has continued to promote Sorghum development in northern Ghana.”

In collaboration with Technoserve, an agricultural NGO, significant progress has been made. The number of farm families that have been networked into the supply chain has reached over 5,000. During the first three years of the project (2005-2008), these families have delivered about 2,600 metric tonnes to GGBL and earned about $1.04 million in new cash income.

Diageo International comprises several business units across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

The delegation to the seat of government was made up of Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Okoli, Mr. Edwin Baffour, Head, Corporate Relations, GGBL, and Mr. P.V Obeng, a non-executive Director and Oheneba Charles, Head of the external PR agency.