Building on the learnings and achievements of the Alliance for Inclusive Business between SNV Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in Latin America, some initial steps are being taken to broaden the geographic scope of this strategic partnership toward southern Africa.
As we outlined in an earlier blog post a few months ago, the Business Council for Sustainable Development Zimbabwe (BCSDZ), a member of the WBCSD’s Regional Network, andSNV Zimbabwe, are collaborating in view of introducing inclusive business as a collaborative approach for companies, the public sector, donors and NGOs to reduce poverty in a sustainable way. Likewise, in Mozambique, a strategic platform to promote and develop inclusive business was established in mid-2009. Members of this platform include most notably SNV, the International Finance Corporation, the UN Development Program, and the Mozambique Business Forum for the Environment (FEMA), the WBCSD’s national partner organization.
In an effort to learn and share ideas on inclusive business, a joint delegation from Zimbabwe and Mozambique visited a number of companies in South Africa in late August 2009. The group (pictured above), which comprised leading representatives from BCSD Zimbabwe and its member companies, FEMA Mozambique, Sasol Mozambique, as well as SNV Zimbabwe and SNV Mozambique, visited 4 leading companies in the inclusive business domain: Vodacom, Coca-Cola, Anglo Zimele and SABMiller. The companies presented their enterprise development activities to the delegation, and shared lessons learned, most notably the emphasis they are putting upon providing extensive support in terms of resources like finance, skills training and business mentorship generally.
The visit, which was sponsored by SNV Zimbabwe, included a meeting with the National Business Initiative (NBI), also a member of the WBCSD’s Regional Network, and a strong advocate for the collective role of business in support of a stable democracy, growing economy and healthy natural environment.
At the end of 2009, BCSD Zimbabwe integrated the topic of inclusive business within it annual meeting’s program, inviting a number of experts from the business community as well as SNV to present some ongoing inclusive business activities in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, most notably in the domain of small scale farmers being linked to agribusiness firms, local procurement in the mining sector, and the promotion of women’s entrepreneurial skills.
Meanwhile, a workshop titled “Inclusive Business: Awareness and Buy-In from Private Sector and Government” was held in November in Mozambique. As few companies are consciously and strategically including the Mozambican SMEs, associations and informal sector in their business plans and models, one of the identified priorities for the months ahead will be to document existing inclusive business cases in Mozambique, identifying both success factors and challenges to their creation and deployment, in view of raising awareness within both the private sector and government about the concept and its “win-win” approach. Furthermore, work will need to be carried out toward compiling feasibility studies and advocating for government incentives that could entice companies to embark upon pilot programs in this domain.
More information:
Regarding Zimbabwe, please contact George Foot, BCSD Zimbabwe Administrator, or Rik Overmars, Portfolio Manager, Eastern Portfolio – SNV Zimbabwe.
Regarding Mozambique, please contact Bart Sijbenga, Senior Economic Development Advisor at SNV, or Joao C.P. Viseu, Chairman of FEMA.
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