Our Responsibility

“Beyond the creation of a substantial number of jobs, ETC has demonstrated the role that a vibrant forestry industry can play in South Sudan. In addition to their operations, they have also built the only functional secondary school in Nzara County. Other corporate social responsibility emphases have included a comprehensive health package for their staff, an employment insurance scheme, a vegetable production centre for local HIV treatment facilities, and an active capacity building/skills transfer program.” USAID Report 2015

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Equatoria Teak Company is Western Equatoria State's largest private employer. More than 90% of our workforce is drawn from the local Nzara community and we prioritize investment in employee training programmes with emphasis on capacity building and employee advancement both in the workplace and community. We are committed to health and safety for our workers and have zero tolerance for forced or child labour.

The tax and royalty payments we make to the national and local governments are a significant source of revenue for each. These payments are an important investment in both the country and the region in which the company operates. They go to fund infrastructure and social programs, driving both economic growth and social development. In addition to these tax and royalty payments, we contribute a proportion of the revenue from every cubic metre that we export to a Community Fund. The fund committee represents all villages affected by the various plantations and proposes projects which they deem fit for the community. The fund has developed a secondary school in Nzara, three primary schools in Mborizanga, Nangondi and James Diko, rehabilitated and built more than 20 boreholes in Yambio and Nzara counties, and constructed a maternity ward in Makpandu and three Primary Health Centres in Ringasi, Ukuo and Bangasu.

Outside the fund, Equatoria Teak Company has also:

• Donated generators to Nzara Hospital

• Opened feeder roads which we maintain on an ongoing basis for the community facilitating easier access to farms

• Completed construction work at the facilities of the Comboni Sisters, Italian nuns who offer health and social services to the Nzara population

• Sponsored Independence Day Celebrations in Nzara

• Introduced the Moringa plant into the nursery, Nzara Hospital and at the Rainbow Clinic (this plant has strong medicinal properties, which are known to alleviate the symptoms of HIV/AIDS sufferers) 

• Assisted the local government of Nzara in repairing the county administration block, the county court house, the main roads, and the airstrip 

• Dug pits for safe garbage disposal using our personnel, vehicles and equipment