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IN AFRICA, IT IS NO LONGER BUSINESS AS USUAL – It is about doing business with heart

July 1, 2010 By 3 Comments

With Africa Gathering London this weekend, I wanted to share with you some thoughts on development in Southern Africa from Charlene Hewat CEO of Environment Africa. Environment Africa is a 100% African owned and operated NGO operating in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi. I am truly humbled by the work they have done over the last 20 years.

IT IS NO LONGER BUSINESS AS USUAL -  It is about doing business with heart. By Charlene Hewat, CEO, Environment Africa

Our world, our planet is changing and the time has come for Zimbabwe thinkers and policy makers to think of new innovative, environmentally and sustainable ways of doing business, business is no longer based on ‘business as usual’.

When  public systems breakdown,  governments often look to the private sector to save the day.  In many developing countries such as India, a range of services that were in the public domain – housing, water, energy, transportation and communication have been or are being privatized.  This may lead to greater efficiency, but even the most die-hard neo-classical economist understands that it can also spell environmental and social disasters.

Public-private partnerships are a good way to divide responsibilities among different sectors of society. But they are fraught with danger, since they can become another way for the private sector to internalize benefits and externalize costs.

If we are to reorient the economy’s path to sustainability, what we really need is a totally new sector, perhaps termed the Community Sector,  which would combine public sector objectives with private sector strategies.   We need to create businesses that have a heart.  Environment Africa (EAfrica), a truly African non-for-profit, private voluntary organisation (PVO) has developed a concept called (PPCP) meaning Public, Private, and Community Partnerships.  EAfrica believes that this is future for businesses in Africa and that this approach, PPCP, would contribute not only toward sustainable development but also to poverty alleviation.

PPCP is not about an NGO, private sector, public sector coalition or a once off partnership, it is about corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in practice.  EAfrica, through it’s not-for-profit company, is seeking to become a social, environmental investor in companies and take out a shareholding which it will hold in trust for communities and social and environmental development projects.  The not-for-profit company, is looking at an alternative to the typical donor route of one off grants and handouts and aims, through the PPCP approach to uplift the livelihoods of communities in a sustainable business like manner.   The PPCP concept has now been included in the Medium Term Plan for Zimbabwe as well as the Zambezi Transfronter National Parks document.  EAfrica is also in the process of establishing a PPCP Forum and if you are interested in assisting in any way, please do not hesitate to contact EAfrica’s CEO, Charlene Hewat:  charlie@eafrica.utande.co.zw

What is Corporate Social Responsibility then?

The International Standards Body ISO, are developing a Social Responsibility guideline called ISO26000.  This is a guide for all types of organisations to follow.  The Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) is the ISO representatives here in Zimbabwe and has an ISO26000 working group, which organisations have been participating in.  Environment Africa has played a key role in the development of this standard not only in Zimbabwe but Internationally, under the banner of SAZ and as an NGO representative from a developing country.   EAfrica is also working closely with the Business Council For Sustainable Development Zimbabwe (BCSDZ), on CSR.  The ISO26000 Standard Guidance document is due to be released this year.

Social responsibility has continued to become a topical issue for all sectors, the private, the public and the government sectors as it is considered one of the key drivers to sustainable development. Social responsibility despite the name is not inclined to social development alone; it spans the operations of organizations internally all the way to the community or consumer level. Being socially responsible is considered a sustainable way of doing business and most often it boils down to trust. How can the various sectors trust each other? Can business trust communities? and can communities trust business to address their concerns in a manner that is beneficial for both. When looking at the corporate sector, it is important to examine the extent to which they are integrating social and environmental concerns throughout their business.

Some of the social concerns currently being experienced in Zimbabwe, as is the case in developing countries, include poverty, HIV/ AIDS; gender inequality; limited access to health, sanitation and education facilities and food security.  Its is evident that the developing countries have serious social concerns in comparison to the developed world and the question in the developing countries is how to include these concerns within the business frame work and still make a profit at the end of the day.

Internationally Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is being mainstreamed by many corporates and is now considered the key component to long-term survival. There are several companies now in Zimbabwe who have adopted CSR and have partnered with Environment Africa to implement some of the 7 core areas of SR.  Some of the activities include:

  • Development and implementation of a CSR Policy
    Looking at a companies carbon footprint and offsetting carbon emissions
    Partnerships on CSR projects and programmes

    CSR is more than just business, it is a part of your business and remember, it is not philanthropy or cheque book PR, it is about commitment, involvement and action. Get involved today and help rebuild our beautiful country Zimbabwe.

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    Innovation: Why Africa Is The Place To Be – Opinion

    May 13, 2010 By 6 Comments

     

    If an American or European organisation were to invent the automobile today, they would not get it approved by the army of regulators, health and safety officers, industry regulators, environmental targets and all the other hurdles thrown in their way.

    If it were a Chinese organisation on the other hand, things would be different. The relationship between innovation and resource utilisation is more market growth driven verses regulation driven. Some could say the US or Europe of old.

    If an American or European organisation developed a more efficient and socially responsible method of organising or producing a product or service, it is likely the establishment would do everything it could to stop it in order to ensure their existence is not threatened, quite possibly under the guise of national interests.

    Africa is a different world, particularly Africa north of South Africa. The West’s ‘top down’ approach to Africa has not worked. A major part of this is that Africa’s relationship and attitude to resources is different to the West’s. Africa may be ‘blessed’ with resources but it is clear we need to distinguish between resources in or of the land, and the availability of resources to the population.

    The West, when looking to Africa as an investment opportunity is still making the mistake that it has made for decades. I have been reading with interest the growth of Africa as a destination for investment funds. How very English. “If Africa wants to attract investment funding into their capital markets they need to organise and regulate their markets better.” Which basically means that they want the markets to be organised the same way theirs are. Of course I am not saying that organised markets are not desirable or regulation and accountability is not needed. Nor am I suggesting that an organised financial market will not create wealth. I am pointing out that there is still a belief by the West that for Africa to develop it needs to become civilised, where civilised equates to, “like us”. Trading invisible money on capital markets may generate wealth but for who? Of course I understand the thinking and the theory. I also understand the other side too and look to the large hole we are in because of this.

    If Africa were to become like the West overnight, the continent would come to a grinding halt. Over regulation is not only the privilege of the over resourced and established, it is also the death of innovation and progress.

    The spirit and aptitude towards innovation within Africa is enormous. Africa has no choice but to innovate towards purpose, according to its culture and within its available resources and structures. Innovations are useful, they fulfil a purpose and they happen because they are driven by the need to improve peoples’ lives according to who they are and what they have.

    Responsible innovation and growth within Africa will not come from fighting its structures, culture and ethics but through understanding them and working within them. Let the people of Africa innovate. Creating a solution to a problem that also makes money is not greed or exploitation, it is smart, it is sustainable and it ensures innovation and responsible progress will thrive.

    Work with Africa, invest, listen, learn and, quite possibly, the world will be a better place.

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    Africa: Doing Her Bit for Haiti

    January 17, 2010 By 2 Comments

    It is fun going to conferences and events that focus on subjects that are important to you. Once such event for me has been Africa Gathering. It not only focuses on the continent of my birth, but also how technology and social media can help with creating sustainable development. Two of my favourite subjects.

    People most often view Africa as the recipient of aid, the poor cousin who needs technical assistance. Events like Africa Gathering are important as they show the world Africa is full of capable people who can, and do create systems, technology and processes that not only work for Africa, but have global significance and application.

    The most visible of these projects right now is Ushahidi and their vital efforts in crowdsourcing data coming out of the Haiti earthquake and translating it into useful, available and actionable information.

    Ushahidi was initially developed by Kenyans to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post election disturbances in 2008.  Since then the platform has been rebuilt primarily by people within Africa, but in true open source philosophy with contributions from people in Europe and the US.

    Take a look at their website and read further, it makes interesting reading.

    Here is the link to their Haiti specific site.

    As a Zimbabwean, it delights me to be able to point to the hard work, dedication, and resourcefulness of some very smart African people, who have developed a platform that has global application and the ability to ultimately save lives.

    From an organizational perspective, this raises a few important questions and points

    • Who said social media tools do not have real purpose and application?
    • How can organizations learn from this?
    • Why aren’t more people thinking about how they can organize information from the collective and turn it into useable and valuable data?
    • Why must the revenue model of social media concentrate on making money directly from the tools verse figuring out how the tools and their application can empower your organization to reach objectives or gain revenue?

    Let’s all learn a little from the people of Africa

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    Brand Africa, Twitter and World AIDS Day

    December 1, 2009 By 2 Comments

    321px-terrestrial_globesvgTwitter is doing a fantastic job supporting the World AIDS Day. Changing their whole theme and incorporating the colour #RED has done much to spread the message and allow people to connect and spread their message.

    Having said that I have a problem with one aspect of the execution. It was brought to my attention by @meotree who retweeted this post from @ithorpe:
    ithorpe+twitter_120109

    It is fair to say that Twitter has not created this, merely fallen prey to the prevailing Western attitude towards Africa. Africa as a Brand stands for poverty, disease, pestilence, corruption, drought, and recipient of aid.

    How can Africa develop under these stereotypes? Can you blame outspoken African leaders who talk about the arrogance of the West? When are people going to recognize that the aid model has not worked?

    If you have been following the investment trends for Africa over the last 24 months you will see an increased investment from and courtship of Eastern and Asian countries. You see African leaders seeking partnerships with South American countries and organizations.

    Of course Africa has its fair share of problems. Yes AIDS is a huge concern, as is Malaria and TB. Of course there is need for development and assistance. But let us not define a continent by these things. Solutions to Africa’s problems will come from within Africa, with the assistance, partnership and goodwill of the West, the East, the North, the South. Let us concentrate on what is good about Africa and grow that. Surely nobody can argue that this is not the best way for Africa to develop?

    Thank you Twitter for all you have done on World AIDS Day. Consider, however, the impact on people of reading an investment-focused tweet on Africa when it is turned red, reminding them of Africa’s stereotypes, instead of allowing people to see its potential.

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    Writers, Writing on Conflicts and Wars in Africa – Excerpt from Mike Woodman

    October 10, 2009 By 1 Comment

    writersinafricaWe all dream of making a difference in the world. There are people out there who are doing so everyday. When a friend of yours quietly and humbly just gets on with it and you just happen across a body of writing that brings it to light, you cannot help but be affected.

    The book Writers, Writing on Conflicts and Wars in Africa edited by  Okey Ndibe and Chenjerai Hove is a collection of essays written by real people doing real work within Africa. My friend Mike Woodman is one of those who contributed.

    I have asked Mike permission to include an extract of his essay here on my blog. This is followed by a brief bio of Mike.

    Excerpt 1:

    BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM; gunfire shatters the stillness of the night.

    I roll onto the floor instinctively, staring upwards in the direction of the bullets hissing above the thatch roof. My heart pounds with raw fear and I try to reassure myself that any bullet would have to pass through two mud brick walls to reach me.

    I assume the heavy calibre fire is spewing from the truck mounted antiaircraft gun at the nearby military camp.

    It intensifies and is now answered by the crackle of smaller calibre fire spattering from one direction then another. An engine screams and revs in low gear. Footsteps; urgent shouting; then voices are outside my hut.

    The door swings open but from the floor I can’t identify the robed silhouette.

    “I am Mohammed,” comes the familiar but breathless voice of our guard.

    “Man shoot, come!”

    I dress hurriedly. A wounded man is being carried into the compound followed by a crowd of men and a few women. I direct them to the tent and ask for the generator to be started.

    The man is in agony. He hangs around the necks of two men who are supporting his legs. His white trousers are ripped and wrapped tightly and knotted around his right knee as an improvised bandage which is dark and glistening. His name is Farid and he is the younger brother of the local chief. He is laid on the table in the makeshift operating theatre, a canvas tent. I open the bandage. Several bullets have ripped through the knee leaving shards of gleaming bone amidst a mangle of flesh. I quickly cover the wound and lean hard down on it to stem the bleeding. The midwife sets up the drip and injects the general anaesthetic whilst I finish donning a surgical gown and scrubbing my hands. I start to work, stopping occasionally to swipe in vain at the gathering swarm of flies.

    We finally leave the operating tent as dawn breaks and I strip out of the bloodied surgical gown.

    Farid is waking but woozy under the cocktail of anaesthetic and painkiller.

    He will not lose his leg but will never walk normally again.

    Sleep won’t come; my eyes dart restlessly in the darkness behind my closed lids. Eventually I drift into a fitful sleep punctuated by vivid dreams: I am kidnapped by rebels at gunpoint, taken by horse to their cave and operate on their wounded colleagues in a cave by candlelight.

    —

    Mike Woodman was raised and educated in Zimbabwe. With a medical degree from the University of Cape Town, he completed his internship in the UK and Zimbabwe. He left his post at a government hospital in Bulawayo to work with Aboriginal communities in northern Australia. Following a longstanding ambition, and finally equipped with enough experience, he volunteered with the French aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres. Since then he has lived and worked in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Vietnam and Russia. Along the way, he obtained further qualifications in international public health in Australia and tropical medicine in London. His passion is the provision of acceptable level medical services to those most in need in this world of recurrent conflicts, natural disasters and ever increasing inequalities. He is currently based in Harare with his partner Tanya.

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    Development Aid’s Bitter Little Pill

    May 23, 2009 By 7 Comments

    Net Efekt bitter pillAuthor: Alasdair Munn

    The West currently lives within a prescriptive mentality. The road to efficiency is paved with check boxes and packaged solutions. Robust and complicated infrastructure props up bad decisions and resources are used like wallpaper to paper over the cracks. Relative excess generally allows people to live well within this framework.

    I was struck by two pieces of writing recently. The first was from Dr. Geoffrey Douglas the CEO of the charity HETN (Health Empowerment Through Nutrition). Dr. Douglas in his blog “An Epidemic of Rickets” was commenting on a recent Channel 4 News report on the alarming increase in the prevalence of Rickets in the UK. The news report thought it was shocking that Calciferol; the pharmaceutical treatment for Rickets was in short supply. At no time did the news report mention nutrition and lifestyle. Rickets is increasing in the UK because of a change in diet and attitudes towards exposure to the sun, not because of a shortage of pharmaceutical Calciferol.

    The second piece of writing was by TMS Ruge on the website Project Diaspora. In “Celebrity Stunts of Altruism are Killing Livelihoods In Africa”  Teddy argues that the current trend of sending mosquito nets to Africa, while neat and tangible for the giver, is actually doing little to tackle the underlying malaria eco-system.

    Neither is saying that pharmaceutical Calciferol or malaria nets do not have a role to play within their relative eco-systems. What they are saying is that effective solutions and understanding come from looking at the entire eco-system, not through a single magic bullet.

    When development projects fail in Africa, Africa is blamed for its lack of infrastructure, for its lack of understanding and for not having the right systems in place. By their very definition, developing countries do not have robust infrastructures as defined by the West. They do not have an excess of resources to paper over the cracks. Bad decisions cannot be propped up. A prescriptive mentality cannot work within development projects. Checkboxes, packaged solutions and predetermined paths lack efficiency and relevance in these conditions.

    Perhaps the West needs to change its approach? Prescribing solutions based upon their ideals, norms and values has not worked in Africa. Belligerently trying to change the way Africa deals with these prescribed solutions so that she can then develop in a way that is pleasing to the West seems a little crazy to me. Would it not be easier to change the way the West approaches development in Africa? And perhaps a little more effective?

    Photo by Net_Efekt

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