Carrier backs African cold chain development

USA: Carrier is helping to advance cold chain development and training in Africa, following recently forged agreements with humanitarian organisations.

According to Carrier, the collaborations with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain (ACES) will support its focus on expanding the cold chain, improving health outcomes and reducing hunger, food insecurity and carbon emissions.

“Collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors can drive transformational cold chain development and growth,” said Carrier Refrigeration president Tim White. Referring to the recent agreements, he added: “The potential benefits of these collective efforts are far reaching and can positively impact the cold chain from farmers and manufacturers to consumers with wide-reaching benefits.”

Under the agreement, Carrier will help to develop the recently announced cold chain centre in Kigali, Rwanda with ACES. The centre will provide capacity building for farmers and refrigeration technicians, skills development for students and supply chain professionals, and demonstration of best-in-class technology for the sustainable development of the cold chain across Africa.

ACES was established in 2020 by the governments of the UK and Rwanda, the Centre for Sustainable Cooling, the United Nations Environment Programme’s United for Efficiency initiative and the University of Rwanda.

Additionally, progress continues on the collaboration between Carrier, the WFP and other leading companies to build a world-class Transport Training Centre in Accra, Ghana, aimed at enhancing transport and logistics capacities across West Africa. The training centre expects to offer free online and hands-on training for up to 400 people per year from humanitarian organisations, governments and the local private sector.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with partners like Carrier to facilitate bringing their extensive knowledge and expertise to transport actors in West Africa,” said the WFP’s director of supply chain Alex Marianelli. 

“This partnership with Carrier, which will provide both knowledge and cutting-edge materials, will improve the ability of transporters in the region to safely and securely transport temperature sensitive items such as medicines and vaccines, with the potential to have huge impacts on health outcomes,” he added.

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