• SHOPRITE Holdings general manager Charles Bota (third from right) hands over an assortment of donated items valued K150,000 to Patriotic Front Chongwe Member of Parliament Japhen Mwakalombe (left) for Beacon of Sharing Orphanage in Chongwe on Thursday. Picture by CHILA NAMAIKO

By CHILA NAMAIKO  –
SHOPRITE Holdings, the largest fast-moving consumer goods retail operation on the African continent, has pledged support to the Government in uplifting the livelihood of underprivileged people, citing those residing in rural parts of the country.
Shoprite general manager Charles Bota said the multinational chain store was not only focused on enhancing its business in the country, but improving the welfare of many communities.
Mr Bota said the festival season was one of the significant occasions Shoprite celebrated by empowering more vulnerable people such as the elderly and orphans in various orphanages.
He said this in Chongwe on Thursday when he led a team of his staff in donating an assortment of items, among them, clothes, shoes and blankets valued at K150,000 to Beacon of Sharing Orphanage.
“Our focus is to improve the living standards of the people in our areas of operation and, in Chongwe District, we recently opened a Shoprite store at Waterfalls area and we made sure that we also provide employment to the local people,” Mr Bota said.
Mr Bota said the desire of Shoprite Holdings was to give back to many communities part of its profits, citing the empowerment of orphans and vulnerable people in Chongwe and other areas.
Patriotic Front (PF) Chongwe Member of Parliament (MP) Japhen Mwakalombe said the increased setting-up of Shoprite stores across the country was a testament of a conducive investment climate.
Mr Mwakalombe, the Lusaka Province minister, said the Government remained supportive of initiatives aimed at enhancing investment as that was prudent in the creation of local employment opportunities.
He said the gesture by Shoprite to empower more than 200 vulnerable children and elderly people in his constituency was a commendable gesture for which the Government would remain appreciative.
He said the Government was committed to realising the fundamental pillars of the 7th National Development Plan centred on poverty reduction, and that it was through unwavering support from stakeholders such as Shoprite Holdings that such goals would be achieved.