‘Entrepreneur for Entrepreneurs Trophy’ for DEME

DEME has won the second edition of the “Entrepreneur for Entrepreneurs Trophy” as most sustainable company 2016.

The trophy honors companies from the North that sustainably promote entrepreneurship in the South.

The prize was handed out yesterday in attendance of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation, Alexander De Croo.

DEME was in particular recognized for a sustainable dredging project on the Congo River.

Since 1989 DEME has been dredging the Congo River on a regular basis. In all cases, these were so-called “emergency projects” as the river had silted up to such a degree that some of the inland cargo ships of a certain draught were no longer able to reach the ports of Boma and Matadi.

“DEME maintains close ties with Africa and has been operating on the continent for over half a century. Most of our projects in Africa are greatly important to the nations’ economic development,” said Alain Bernard, Director and CEO DEME Group.

“Through sustainable financing, exchange of knowhow and the transfer of equipment, DEME is able to make a contribution that really makes the difference for the Congolese economy and population. As it happens, in many cases projects such as these are sparked by our own members of staff, who often spend years working locally and building up a relationship with the local population.”

Earlier in the day DEME signed the Belgian “SDG Charter” with more than 80 other Belgian companies and organisations.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were approved by the United Nations last year and are very ambitious: bring an end to extreme poverty by 2030, protect the planet and encourage human development.

For the first time the SDG’s explicitly recognize the role of the private sector in the field of sustainable development. The Belgian SDG Charter is an initiative of Minister for Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo.