The SOMDIAA Group seeks to promote employee involvement in a climate of openness and exchange within each of its affiliates.
In keeping with the fundamental rights of employees, social development involves industrial operating conditions as well as training, quality, safety and hygiene, health protection and environmental soundness.

We are seamlessly committed to a number of actions in favor of education, community support, sustainable development and environmental standard compliance.

Training and skill set development

Training is one of the SOMDIAA Group's top priorities with a view to continuously improving general proficiency levels in accordance with the level of expertise found in international companies.

The Group places the utmost importance on its training programs and devotes a significant part of its budget to them, showing how these actions fit into the overall strategy defined by the Group's Corporate Management.
Each affiliate sets its annual training plan including the established guidelines and determines the training needs of company employees.

Beyond training programs, each affiliate is actively involved in developing local educational facilities by building schools, providing them with equipment and supporting education-related expenditure such as teacher salaries or educational materials.
The SOMDIAA Group intends on developing closer ties with schools in the sub-region such as the higher education institution Institut supérieur de technologie d'Afrique centrale (IST-AC) by providing them its support. On top of graduating from a recognized school students have the opportunity to learn how to work in a multicultural environment as the school is attended by students from Cameroon, Congo (Brazzaville and Kinshasa), Chad, Gabon, Central Africa, Rwanda, etc.
The SOMDIAA Group set up a "skill set network" within its group to identify the best skills of each affiliate and to promote them by helping them share their knowledge and expertise with other sister companies. Through this new system the SOMDIAA Group aims at promoting the mobility of employees and enhances the diversified expertise and many skills within the Group in favor of sister companies across the countries in which they operate.

The quality of our products

The Group's sugar plants have been working towards a consistent quality approach since 2002.
The system developed in accordance with the ISO 9001 standard is aimed at seeking the optimum quality level for each of our products made available to our industrial customers, craftsmen, traders and individuals.
Beyond better customer satisfaction this quality approach helps us improve our manufacturing process on a continual basis.

• ISO 9001: 2008 CERTIFICATION

This certification is issued by Bureau Veritas Certification France and recognizes the efforts of SOSUCAM in efficiently managing its processes so as to satisfy customers and ensuring the health safety of the sugar they use.

• CERTIFICATION OF SUGAR COMPLIANCE WITH CAMEROONESE STANDARD - 11 NC: 2001

This certification is issued by the Government following an audit performed by an independent firm and shows the capacity of SOSUCAM to manufacture sugars that meet international standards of health and consumer protection.

Occupational safety, food safety and hygiene

Safety is another top priority for the SOMDIAA Group seeing to enforce compliance with safety regulations and improve accident prevention across all sites.
Each site within the Group has a health and safety at work committee.
On-site training programs are organized internally depending on the relevant workshops to educate all employees.
Safety procedures are specifically designed to address the particular hazards related to food industries with an emphasis on accident prevention.
The annual workshops and seminars organized by the Group provide an opportunity to intensify requirements in terms of accident prevention across sites in Africa.

Environmental friendliness

Based on its quality model the SOMDIAA Group decided to set up a real environmental policy in accordance with the 14001 standard.

This approach helps us better control our atmospheric, soil and water emissions, reduce our use of resources (energy and water) and establish a real waste treatment plan.
Each of these steps is completed facing challenging operational conditions for our sugar plants as their being remote from city centers makes its more difficult to collect and recycle waste for instance. In terms of environmental commitment, e.g. as regards the Cameroonese sugar business, SOSUCAM was granted the following:

CERTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

This certification is issued by the Government following an audit performed by an independent body and shows a commitment on the part of SOSUCAM to complying with national regulations on environmental protection and preserving the quality of life of its employees and local residents. It shows willingness on the part of SOSUCAM to work in accordance with its natural environment and its concern to preserve the quality of life of its employees and local residents.

The achievement of a triple certification demonstrates the extent of the measures that have been taking place for the past six years in an effort to upgrade production tools and management methods for the total satisfaction of consumers, and to abide by its commitment to developing its business all the while preserving our natural environment.

Health

Employee health in the workplace
The SOMDIAA Group takes the health of its African employees as well as that of their family members very seriously. The Group companies strive to create a workplace with no particular health hazard as well as a safe and healthy environment with a view to fostering better knowledge and practices.

In addition, every year the Group funds and supervises medical outreach programs conducted by voluntary helpers for the benefit of its affiliates with the support of the Lion's Club.