International integrated energy and chemicals company Sasol earlier this year handed over about 600 desks to education authorities in Inhambane, Mozambique, as part of the Mozambique government’s ‘Take the Children off the Floor’ initiative, initially established in 2011.

The chemicals company has pledged to donate 2 000 school desks over the next three years to support the initiative, which tries to shape and enable a superior learning environment, where school learners are seated behind fully functioning desks.

The desks will be sourced from local suppliers, with about 3 600 learners earmarked to bene- fit from the initiative as Sasol continues its strategy to support education and skills development.

Sasol Mozambique country manager Dr Mateus Zimba noted the importance of education development in Mozambique. “Education is one of the key priorities in the government of Mozambique’s five-year programme, which runs from 2015 to 2019.”

“We believe this is important as education provides the cement that is necessary to build a strong foundation for a more precious Mozambique. “At Sasol, we are committed to contributing meaningfully to the socioeconomic development of Mozambique and enabling the growth of the country’s oil and gas industry through capacity building initiatives,” adds Zimba.

At a handover ceremony, Mozambique Minister of Education Luis Antonio Ferrão thanked the energy and chemicals company, along with its partners, for their active participation in this education development initiative.
“We want to thank Sasol, Companhia Moçam-bicana de Hidrocarbonetos (CMH), as well as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for joining this movement to take school children off the floor at schools in Mozambique,” he said.

Sasol’s commitment to Mozambique was established well over a decade ago, when, together with its in-country partners, CMH and the IFC, the company established Sasol Petroleum Temane, a Mozambique subsidiary of Sasol, to develop the Pande–Temane natural gas pipeline.