SupplierGATEWAY Announces Partnership with Unilever West Africa for EDC

SupplierGATEWAY is proud to announce partnership with Unilever West Africa by introducing Enhanced Digital Certification® (EDC) Africa. The program launched May 11, 2022. This innovative diversity certification is a fast, affordable, and easy way for women-owned and disability-owned businesses in Nigeria to become diversity certified. EDC Africa certification also exposes these businesses to new opportunities as more companies in the private and public sector seek to engage certified diverse suppliers. The launch event will be held in Lagos, Nigeria at Unilever West Africa’s headquarters, with support from WIMBIZ and UN Global Network. Our CEO Ade Solaru will be a featured speaker during the event’s roundtable.

“We have 56,000 supplier partners around the world, and if all our partners commit to increase their spend with diverse suppliers, it will exponentially scale up and accelerate the transformation of our value chain,“ states Dave Ingram, Chief Procurement Officer at Unilever. “My big ambition is that our suppliers will consider the value of supplier diversity, and commit to it across their full network.” 

Unilever is aiming to spend €2 billion a year by 2025 with diverse businesses that are owned and managed by people from underrepresented communities, including women and the disabled. These ambitions are global in nature, and oftentimes include countries where supply chain systems are either in their infancy or simply non-existent. Making diversity certifications accessible to those doing business in these types of supply chain systems is vital to building a stronger, more diverse supply chain. 

SupplierGATEWAY’s Enhanced Digital Certification® Africa is a seamless solution to the problems diversely-owned businesses face when attempting traditional supplier diversity certification. Completely digital and entirely online, EDC is a new, fast and inexpensive way for small and diverse businesses to get certified as diverse owned organizations, while at the same time exposing them to new opportunities afforded by being in the SupplierGATEWAY network.  Certifications last for either one or  three years, and cost either $25 or $70 USD which substantially lowers the cost barrier for certification. 

The launch of SupplierGATEWAY’s Enhanced Digital Certification® has attracted attention globally from institutions invested in creating an ever-growing and inclusive base of diverse suppliers.