Presentation of the Foundation

Why a Foundation?

In 2013, Nexans became the first player in the cable industry to create a Corporate Foundation to work in the public interest.

The creation of the Nexans Corporate Foundation has emerged as a natural evolution of the Group's commitment to professionalize the international initiatives in this field toward a common perspective.

The Foundation allows:

• to provide a common framework for the actions supported, in line with the Group's strategy and more particularly with its values;
• to federate the multiple initiatives taken by its teams in the continents and countries where the Group is present, in order to bring them together around a common goal: access to Energy worldwide.

Created early 2013, Nexans Foundation aims to support the development of electrification for disadvantaged populations around the world, with a focus on grassroots associations and sustainable solutions.

Nexans, already involved in sponsorship actions as early as 2007

Nexans wished very early to engage in philanthropic actions putting its expertise at the service of the general interest. This ambition has always demonstrated a collective desire to contribute to Group’s outreach through the valuation of its skills and expertise.

• In 2007, the Group developed a major donation in kind sponsorship with the "Château de Versailles" based on the renovation of the energy networks on site;
• In 2009, Nexans once again embarked on a major sponsorship initiative by donating to the Louvre-Lens Museum all the cables that equip the 28,000 m² of buildings and the 22-hectare of park areas.
• In 2011, Nexans decided to support the action of the NGO "Électriciens Sans frontières", enabling disadvantaged populations around the world to access energy. Through a sponsorship agreement, Nexans has provided the association with low and medium voltage power cables for a total amount of € 300,000 over three years, representing 50% of their needs.

Our mission: access to Energy for all

Today, over one billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Through its Foundation, Nexans has thus decided to get further involved in developing the electrification of disadvantaged communities throughout the world by giving priority to grassroots-level organizations and sustainable solutions.

This commitment follows the United Nations (UN) call in 2012 to raise awareness regarding energy poverty and the importance of increasing access to energy.

In 2015, the UN reinforced this call by including in its new sustainable development objectives, an energy component to "Guarantee access for all to reliable, sustainable, modern and affordable energy services" (Sustainable Development Objective no. 7). A long-standing imperative advocated by the IEA (International Energy Agency) which puts forward universal access to energy by 2030.

Energy indeed does not only allow access to light; it also makes it possible to improve education, access to care, education, women's autonomy, or to participate in economic development, etc.

It is therefore a question of meeting essential needs.

Providing swift responses to emergency situations

Through the Nexans Foundation, we also support one-off projects in emergency situations like Haiti in 2016 and the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma in 2017. To respond more quickly and efficiently to these humanitarian emergencies, the Nexans Foundation - along with 10 other electricity industry leaders - formed a partnership with the crisis center of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs  and"Electriciens sans Frontières" in late 2017.

In the event of a humanitarian crisis, "Electriciens sans Frontières" intervenes to restore access to energy, allowing international solidarity organizations to act in the best possible conditions.