Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, (GGBL), Ghana’s leading total beverage company has launched a partnership that will make alcohol education part of a mandatory annual refresher course for all commercial drivers seeking to obtain or renew their license. Mr. Peter Ndegwa, Managing Director of GGBL says this is a breakthrough partnership for two fundamental and compelling reasons - for the first time, it lines up the leading beverage company in the country, with the lead government ministry and agencies as well as parliamentary legislation working together to ensure mandatory annual refresher courses for commercial drivers that covers all aspects of road safety including education on alcohol. “Secondly the partnership allows for the study of the impact of our work and feed the results into targeted interventions and culturally relevant outreach programs. Alcohol has been part of the social and cultural life of societies in Africa for centuries. As custodians of great brands, we have a responsibility and are proud to have the opportunity to partner with others to inform, remind and inspire adults who choose to drink alcohol to make smart choices around drinking responsibly.” The partnership signed in Accra on February 10 at the Movenpic Ambassador Hotel, is between GGBL and the National Drivers Academy (NDA), an institution established in 2010 by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and government stakeholders with Alpha To Omega Motoring of the United Kingdom with expertise from the Drivers Metrics within Cranfied University in the UK. The Road Safety Traffic Act 2004, Act 683 provides that the Minister may by legislative instrument make Regulations for the effective implementation of the Act and in particular for prescribing of the issue and particulars of driving licenses among others. The NRSC is by law the lead statutory agency charged with the responsibility to manage road safety. The Minister of Transport, Alhaji Collins Dauda, who chaired the occasion, has laid before Parliament a regulation on Continuing Education of Commercial Drivers that will require all persons licensed as commercial drivers to attend at least one NRSC approved refresher course in driving and road safety annually. No commercial vehicle driving permit will be renewed or upgraded without evidence of compliance of this. The Minister said “not without prejudice to the pending regulation I have directed the NRSC to put in place an interim measure to allow for the compulsory refresher training of all commercial drivers at the NDA. “Government is committed to addressing the challenges we face as a country around road safety and the implications this has on our public health as well as development. I welcome the partnership of GGBL as a beverage company in truly leading and partnering with state institutions and others to promote road safety in the country.” GGBL is a subsidiary of Diageo Plc, the world’s leading premium drinks business. The partnership between GGBL and the NDA is inspired by Diageo’s bespoke Drink IQ program which is being used in over 23 countries in which Diageo operates to address behaviours and attitudes of adults by providing knowledge that encourages the respect for abstinence, relevant details on the laws and regulations regarding alcohol use in specific markets, medical facts and collaborative and interactive exercises to debunk the myths about alcohol use. GGBL is working with other partners to customize an alcohol education course specifically for Ghana and for commercial drivers in key local languages to develop personal knowledge and the confidence of road users to enforce and advocate road safety including the central tenet “Don’t Drink and Drive”. Ghana has a population of 24 million and with less than 2 million registered vehicles, the country records more than 14,000 road traffic crashes a year. Noble J. Appiah, Executive Director of the NRSC said “there are many factors that contribute to road traffic crashes. Driver attitudes and education, car maintenance, design of roads and driving under the influence are some of the key areas of concern. At the NRSC we seek to partner persons and institutions who do not only complain but actively do something about the situation on our roads. In Ghana we have all the institutional arrangements for road safety management. “We have a National Road Safety Policy, a 10 year National Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan, Revised Road Traffic Regulations and public institutions dedicated to road safety management. What is missing and what this partnership with GGBL brings is innovation and a creative approach to our challenges. Road safety is a shared and collective responsibility”. GGBL, one of the first companies to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange, recently concluded a Rights Issue that was oversubscribed by more than 40%. The company operates out of 2 breweries, Kaase in the Ashanti region and Achimota in the Greater Accra Region. Its distribution chain provides 37,700 jobs in Ghana and accounted last year, for 3% of total taxes paid.