How Shell group spent $40m (N12.4bn) to support oil producing communities in 2019
communities through these GMOUS.”
A highlight of GMOU in action mentioned was in health insurance where the Obio Cottage Hospital in Port Harcourt stands out. It is a community health insurance scheme launched in 2010 to provide secondary healthcare to the Obio host community. Obio is now a big model being copied elsewhere as many Port Harcourt residents now throng to the centre for services. It has also become the first choice for pregnant women in the oil city.
Shell thus reports that Obio has helped over 27,000 babies safely into the world since it was launched in 2010. The report said: “The programme has seen a five-fold increase in service utilisation to 4,210 patients in 2019 from an average 833 patients in 2017. It has also provided training for over 130 health workers at community, local and state government levels. In addition to this, it has trained 117 volunteers as facility-based extension workers in house-to-house healthcare.
The Oloibiri Health Programme (OHP) is said to include a refurbishment of the Kolo General Hospital, which was inaugurated in 2019.
Shell’s healthcare schemes seem to stretch in different areas and directions. Shell explained why; “Affordable quality healthcare is a critical enabler to any community. It improves health indicators and outcomes and strengthens families, educational attainment and business opportunities. Shell has supported community health programmes in Nigeria since the 1980s with equipment and pharmaceutical donations, emergency care and screening services, hospital maintenance and focused interventions on HIV/ AIDS, malaria, cancer and vision care. Today, Shell seeks to increase access to health services, introduce health insurance schemes and strengthen health systems.”
The report named other healthcare schemes as: “Health-in-motion community care programme; The Community Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS), a partnership between SPDC, Rivers State Government and local communities.
Shell also promoted the top ten innovators in 2018 which has produced strong entrepreneurs. “In 2018, Nigerian Yolo Bakumor Smith, CEO of De-rabacon Plastics, won the first-ever Shell LIVEWIRE Top Ten Innovators Awards for his business. De- Rabacon is a Nigeriabased plastic recycling and waste management solution company that recycles endconsumer plastics to viable commercial products such as pavement blocks, buckets, cans, and carpets.”
Testifying, the CEO said; “Shell’s approach to supporting local enterprises to grow and excel is enabling us to scale up our business and focus on designing ecofriendly, energy-efficient and affordable products. Today, my organisation employs 16 people and has recycled over 800,000 tonnes of plastic waste. We plan to achieve two million tonnes by the end of 2020.”
Two Nigerian enterprises were short-listed in 2019 for the Shell Global Top Ten Innovators Awards -- a global competition which highlights and rewards businesses that demonstrate excellence in innovation as well as giving entrepreneurs a chance to shine on a global platform. There was also Shell LIVEWIRE in Ogoniland within a larger livewire national scheme that has transformed about 7,000 lives.
Shell also reported its Humanitarian Relief in the North East and other feats in 2019.
In its access to energy scheme, Shell mentioned the support to All-on to explore alternative energy and off-grid opportunities.