Corporate Social Responsibility in Sub-Saharan Africa: Sustainable Development in Its Embryonic Form

Citation

Vig, S. (2016), "Corporate Social Responsibility in Sub-Saharan Africa: Sustainable Development in Its Embryonic Form", African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 434-437. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-04-2016-0049

In recent years, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained much momentum and significance in the contemporary business environment. Although substantial research has been conducted on CSR in developed nations the existing literature on CSR in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is very negligible. This continent has long suffered from trials and tribulations and is often seen as a cesspool of problems ranging from widespread poverty, adverse weather conditions and civil wars in some parts. But this face of SSA is rapidly changing and many of its countries are progressing economically with thriving service, industrial and agricultural sectors. In this scenario CSR is also increasingly featuring in Africa with still a great deal left to be achieved. The motivation for the editors to bring forth this collection is their endeavor to substantiate the contributions which businesses can make to the much needed social and environmental improvement in the continent. In this context the book is topical and ground-breaking and is the very first of its kind on CSR initiatives in Africa. It provides insights on CSR from the scholars from eleven Sub-Sahara African countries, which signify that CSR is undergoing transmutation in the region. This book exhibits that CSR in the region is progressing through the varied initiatives of the local and the multi or trans-national companies. Simultaneously the book also educes the challenges posed to sustainable development through CSR in this region.

The book is a collection of 12 chapters divided into three parts based on their geographical focus. Part I focusses on Southern Africa, Part-II on Eastern Africa and Part III on Western Africa. The introduction is authored by the editors, which sets the tone for the book and the chapters are penned by various scholars from 11 African countries altogether. The Foreword to the book has been written by Christina Weidinger. She is the founder of the Sustainability Entrepreneurship Awards in Vienna, Austria. She says that social responsibility holds equal importance for developed industrialized nations around the globe as well as emerging nations of SSA. She further adds that though in this region sustainable entrepreneurship is still in its embryonic form but it has huge potential to “revolutionize social and ecological behaviour around the world.”

Commencing with Chapter 1 Mzembe, Meaton and Downs explore the CSR scenario in Malawi. They examine the historical growth of CSR followed by the antecedents of CSR in Malawi. They report that the CSR agenda in Malawi is dominated by Trans-national companies, which is characterized by a philanthropic approach to CSR. Yet the fact remains that the CSR initiatives have bolstered the society in Malawi by helping it in combating the challenge of HIV/AIDS to some extent. The chapter also throws light on the obstacles in the CSR agendas along with pointing out the lack of engagement of the government of this State.

In Chapter 2 Kaufmann and Simons-Kaufmann cover the neighboring Mozambique, wherein they reflect upon the increase in the number of CSR projects by the large Trans-national companies surrounded by an environment of weak public institutions. They hold that though there are legislative provisions for CSR, for example mining sector where CSR is mandatory by law since 2014, but it is marred by weak governance and run of the mill enforcement procedures. Due to this fact CSR in Mozambique is more compliance driven, whereas it can actually contribute to the development of this country which has a growing economy.

Mueller-Hirth, in Chapter 4, deal with the resource rich South Africa. This country has been plagued by colonialism and apartheid in the past and still confronts huge socio-economic challenges. In this context CSR becomes a pertinent issue for both business and government, which reflects in the legislative requirements and charters on CSR. CSR landscape in South Africa is different from other countries as most of it is not driven voluntarily rather it is mandated by legal provisions for South African firms. The authors highlight that these firms make a huge expenditure in corporate social investment (CSI), which is spent on community development and poverty alleviation. In the next chapter Noyoo makes a comparative analysis between South Africa and Zambia. The author enquires into the historical development of CSR in these two nations and tries to establish the efficacy of CSR if it is linked to some social policy.

The second part of the book gives an account of some countries in Eastern Africa. Cheruiyot and Tarus explore Kenya which is the regional hub for trade and finance and also East Africa’s largest economy. The authors present some cases of CSR by business organizations in Kenya and comment that CSR in Kenya could be applicable at three levels, the Macro, Meso and Micro levels. They conclude that despite the progress made there is still huge untapped potential in the CSR landscape of Kenya.

In Chapter 6, Fulgence reviews cross-sectional literature on CSR in Tanzania to explore the development of CSR practices in both public and private sectors. The author investigates the factors which influence and promote the CSR activities and opportunities in this country. The findings of this author are akin to those of the others contributing to the book. The author reports that despite the array of challenges and barriers which hamper promotion of CSR, there is a considerable growth in the awareness on social responsibility issues in Tanzania.

In the last chapter of the second part of the book Katamba and Nkiko outline the evolution of CSR in Uganda in three phases – the past, the present and the future. They provide a discourse of socio-economic factors that influence CSR and approach of the business community to CSR. They discuss the futuristic scope of CSR in the country in the light of ISO 26000 (the international standard on Social Responsibility) which has been piloted by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. The authors perceive the birth of this standard to be very promising and argue that it can perpetuate and provide the necessary impetus to CSR interventions in Uganda.

Moving to Western Africa in the subsequent chapter, Mbonda gives a lens into the role of civil society movement in the CSR landscape of Cameroon. The author argues that if state involvement in CSR is weak then CSR culture in such countries would develop under the influence of the civil society and would thus reflect in the CSR practices of the indigenous and trans-national companies. He particularly discusses the example of Cameroon Society of Palm which was at the epicenter of the civil society movement.

The next two chapters provide an analysis of CSR activities in Ghana. Amponsah-Tawiah, Dartey-Baah and Dan Ofori conduct an inquiry into industrial, commercial and service sectors of the country by review of the company documents for the period 2007-2015. They identify the differences between the CSR practices of these sectors. However, they admit that all these sectors fail to embrace CSR in terms of lack of strategic direction and clarity and lay excess emphasis on marketing activities. In another chapter on Ghana, Kofi Amoako gives a stakeholder perspective to CSR activities of multinational companies working in various sectors of this country. In his investigation he elucidates the mutual benefits derived by multi-national businesses and local communities from these CSR activities. For this purpose the author picks example of five multinational companies which have made enormous CSR expenditure in Ghana.

In Chapter 11 Nwagbara focusses on the Niger delta region of Nigeria, which has persistently smoldered with socio-economic conflicts and violence. The authors uphold that the frustration-aggression in the region can be avoided by enhanced and renewed corporate-stakeholder engagement, as the companies have till now very scantly tried to understand the region’s problems. They argue that instead of the companies doing CSR in isolation, if they apply Peaceful Stakeholder Engagement Strategy, it can help immensely to establish long-time elusive peace in the post-conflict region.

The Western African section concludes with a case study of the diamond mining industry of Sierra Leone authored by Maconachie in Chapter 12. The author gives an account of his extensive fieldwork in the extractive industry in Kono District where diamond mining has been an essential means of livelihood for the local community. He tries to explore the impact that the CSI by international mining companies has on the employment opportunities of the diverse youth in this area. The authors suggest that the corporate sector in this area should recognize the need for youth-focussed community development activities so that resource benefits also flow back to their communities of origin.

The book comes to an end with a Summary by the editors. The editors conclude that CSR is growing in Africa and it can contribute in establishing long- lasting peace in its post-conflict regions, provided the corporate sector in this area creates economic opportunities and successfully combats the social and environmental challenges related to development. This can be achieved by encouraging discussion and active participation in CSR from all the stakeholder groups in the area.

The contributions in this book judiciously feature the constructive contributions and progressive development that CSR activities and programs have made to the communities in SSA, while also providing an insight into the challenges posed to these initiatives by the widespread poverty, inequality and conflict situations in this area. Thus, this collection provides a very useful framework of systematic steps that are required to be taken for capacity building of the African communities and other stakeholders in this continent. This book makes an important addition to the nascent CSR literature in the SSA and may be highly useful to researchers, CSR practitioners, international organizations, non-government organizations and various stakeholders in this area. It may prove to be instrumental in furthering the discussion on how CSR may become a vehicle of sustainable development in Africa.

About the editors

Stephen Vertigans is currently the Head of the School of Applied Social Studies at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. His research interests include corporate social responsibility and political violence with particular interest at present in energy-related development in East and West Africa.

Samuel O. Idowu is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Corporate Social Responsibility at the London Guildhall Faculty of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University. Samuel has published about 50 articles in both professional and academic journals and contributed chapters in edited books. He is a Series Editor for Springer’s CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance books.

René Schmidpeter holds the Dr Juergen Meyer Endowed Chair of the International Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Cologne Business School (CBS). He is also a Professor at the Nanjing University of Finance and Economics. He is a Series Editor for Springer’s CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance books. His research and teaching activities focus on the management of corporate social responsibility, international perspectives on CSR, social innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship.