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PRESENTS
DEFINING CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
The Role of Organs of Civil Society
Update from the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship
April 2005
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Defining Corporate Responsibility in Southern Africa: The Role of Organs of Civil Society
Since its inception four years ago, the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) has been acutely cognisant of the lack of institutional capacity among organs of civil society, especially indigenous African non-governmental organisations. This lack of institutional capacity has created a barrier in the development of a concept and practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that is relevant to Africa. While these organisations played a critical, even a leading role in some cases, in the struggles for independence from colonialism and apartheid, their post-independence role has been shrouded in controversy, confusion and crises.
In Southern Africa the situation has been exacerbated by the deepening crisis that NGOs have experienced over last decade. Although the crisis can be ascribed to a complex set of social, political and economic circumstances prevailing in each country in the region, we have identified three closely related aspects for causes:
It is against this background that the AICC initiated a programme aimed at dealing with some aspects of this crisis, in collaboration with the WK Kellogg Foundation’s Leadership Regional Network (LeaRN) in 2002/3. The programme introduced the debate on corporate social responsibility among local NGOs, businesses and government agencies in five countries – Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. The AICC ran a series of awareness raising workshops in each country followed by customised, training sessions on themes identified by the NGOs; and facilitated issue-focused multi-stakeholder dialogues in these countries.
This programme, with its modest resources, elevated corporate social responsibility to top priority on the competitiveness and sustainability agendas of local and multi-nationals corporations, governments, and the SADC region.
However, it became apparent that different countries were at varying stages of understanding and engaging with the concept and practice of corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, it became clear that AICC’s own understanding of the local contexts and its knowledge and relationship with local stakeholders was limited and would have to be significantly improved before AICC could structure an appropriate intervention.
In 2004, AICC entered a partnership with NOVIB (Oxfam Netherlands) to build on the foundations of the LeaRN programme. The first step was to conduct research into the state of corporate responsibility in the six countries selected - Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Local research teams who understand the local context and experience it on a daily basis conducted the research.
The research phase is nearing completion. AICC are hoping to have a final consolidated report by the end of April 2005. In the meantime, the AICC would like to share with you, its stakeholders in Southern Africa and Africa, initial research findings. The AICC would like to invite you to share your own experiences and knowledge on the issue of CSR in your country.
The test for the success of the research is three-fold:
Issues and challenges
Furthermore, NGOs feel that they lack the requisite information and capacity to engage governments and corporations on CSR in a constructive manner. It is crucial that NGOs can advocate for improved corporate responsibility in a way that supports their country’s economic growth and competitiveness. Going beyond the philanthropic hand out of cash or goods to NGOs will remain a significant challenge for CSR. Securing mechanisms to work together on issues such as environmental management, labour conditions and market place opportunities need to be sought.
Future communiqués will be based on specific country reports and activities undertaken in the second phase of the project.
African Institute of Corporate Citizenship
o Access to resources – both material and intangibles
o Organisational identity
o Leadership
o Whether local NGOs have been enabled to articulate their institutional capacity requirements to develop their national CSR agenda and engage in the subsequent national, regional and international debates that will lead to local action.
o The extent to which research processes have led NGOs, companies and governments to begin to solve CSR challenges together.
o Conceptualisation and implementation of practical programmes
A number of key issues have emerged in the research:
1. The need for NGOs to engage on the CSR agenda to promote good governance.
2. The need for NGOs to understand the linkages between CSR and social challenges in society.
3. The need for NGOs to engage on accountability and transparency issues as it relates to government and business interactions.
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