METL also extends donations directly at the grass-root level to the poor and needy. It is a way of saying to the people that we care. At METL’s Head Office in Dar as Salaam, free food is distributed to the poor, especially poor women, every Friday afternoon. In times of need too, METL has provided a helping hand by reaching out. For example, in February 2004, the company donated 60 tonnes of maize flour in Singida district to help with a famine in the region.

In addition to its existing projects, looking ahead METL is working to expand its corporate social responsibility portfolio. This will include more emphasis on three major areas, operating under a prospective METL run Non Governmental Organisation, Unleashing the Potential of Rural Tanzania (UPORT). The first is education where METL is looking at sponsoring prospective teachers to attend teacher training schools in Tanzania (primary and secondary level) and funding internships for students attending tertiary institutions during summer vacations. The second is more focus on health and in particular malaria, which remains one of the deadliest killers in the country. The aim here is to set up clinics to create a greater awareness of malaria prevention mechanisms especially for pregnant women, and a project to subsidise costs for malaria tablets, mosquito nets and insect repellents. The third is the environment where METL is looking at building more bore wells in remote areas of Dar es Salaam in order to increase access to water, where shortages still remain a problem.