Carrier advances cold chain development across Africa

Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), the leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions, recently forged innovative agreements with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) to help advance cold chain development and training in Africa. The collaborations will support Carrier’s focus on expanding the cold chain – in turn 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 Tim White, President, Refrigeration, Carrier. “We’re pleased to partner with ACES and WFP to make a meaningful difference across Africa, as 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.”

Carrier recently agreed to develop a cold chain center in Kigali, Rwanda with ACES. The center 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. Studies show that more than 475 million tons of the world’s food can be saved annually with effective refrigeration, and more than 50% of all perishable food loss could be avoided by using cold chain technology.

“Turning food loss into nutritionally available food is essential for Africa’s sustainable development, as well as building the food systems that are used to feed people in times of uncertainty,” said Toby Peters, Centre for Sustainable Cooling Director and Professor of Cold Economy, University of Birmingham and Heriot-Watt University. “Global leaders have recently agreed that the only way to overcome food insecurity is by working together to create innovative partnerships within the global community.”

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 organizations, 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 Alex Marianelli, Director of Supply Chain, WFP. “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.”

The centers are expected to inject new expertise into local transport markets, equipping them to deliver goods more efficiently throughout their respective regions. These partnerships are aligned with Carrier’s 2030 Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) goals to reduce its customers’ carbon footprint by more than one gigaton and to positively impact communities by alleviating hunger and food waste.

About Carrier

As the leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions, Carrier Global Corporation is committed to making the world safer, sustainable and more comfortable for generations to come. From the beginning, we’ve led in inventing new technologies and entirely new industries. Today, we continue to lead because we have a world-class, diverse workforce that puts the customer at the center of everything we do.