Sahara Energy have entered a partnership with film-maker, Zuriel Oduwole and her Dususu Foundation to make her the ambassador for the Sahara Foundation, a Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the oil and energy multinational company.

Zuriel Elise Oduwole, a Nigerian-American girl, who is known for championing gender equality and advocating for better education for girls in Africa, in January, collaborated with Sahara Foundation to host a filmmaking session for 90 African girls in Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire.

Speaking at a short briefing in Accra after her appointment, Zuriel expressed her delight in being given the opportunity.

“Entering into this partnership with Sahara Foundation will avail to me a wide-range of help and support from the foundation and through this, I hope to go farther in teaching and empowering girls in the art of film-making. I am so passionate about SDG 4 and I am going to work to ensure I contribute my quota in achieving this particular goal” she said.

Reiterating his outfit’s pledge to promoting equitable and inclusive quality education for all, Oluseyi Ojurongbe, the Manager of Sahara Foundation said, “empowering the youth, especially the girl child, is a goal that Sahara supports strongly and which has seen it rolling out a number of educational and training initiatives across Africa.” He also stated that the goal of the foundation is in sync with the fourth goal on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).

Tosin Etomi, the Country Manager for Sahara Energy, hailed Zuriel for empowering girls across three African countries and equipping them with the foundational skills required to become filmmakers during their project in January. He further noted that Zuriel’s role as the ambassador for Sahara Foundation will have massive impact across Africa.

“Initiatives like the one undertaken by Sahara and Zuriel at the Tema Manhean Secondary Technical School during which Zuriel took a number of female students through the art of film-making will have positive impacts on a whole community” he added.

The briefing was graced by the Deputy National Coordinator of the Ghana Schools Feeding Programme, Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah who promised government’s support and commitment to using education as a development tool to lifting millions out of poverty.

Female students of Tema Manhean Secondary Technical High School who were beneficiaries of the Filmmaking project revealed the enormous impact the initiative had on them saying “Now we are all able to produce our own films and document occurrences in our lives”.