Introduction
It is
difficult to measure the CSR performance of companies operating in Nigeria because
there is no national policy on CSR at the moment. Most views on the issue to
date are rather subjective particularly when measured against global or foreign
standards. In my opinion we can only attempt an objective appraisal of CSR
initiatives in Nigeria once the policy is ready, adopted and implemented for a
12-month period (in the minimum).
What is
CSR?
Corporate
social responsibility (CSR) is an evolving concept that does not have a standard
definition or a fully recognized set of specific criteria. With the
understanding that businesses play a key role on job and wealth creation in
society, CSR is generally understood to be the way a company achieves a balance
or integration of economic, environmental, and social imperatives while at the
same time addressing shareholders and stakeholders expectations. CSR is
generally accepted as applying to firms wherever they operate in the domestic
and global economy. The way businesses engage/involve the shareholders,
employees, customers, suppliers, governments, non-governmental organizations,
international organizations, and
other
stakeholders is usually a key feature of the concept. While business compliance
with laws and regulations on social, environmental and economic objectives set
the official level of CSR performance, CSR is often understood as involving
private sector commitments and activities that extend beyond this foundation of
compliance with laws (www.GlobeScan.com)
From a
progressive business perspective, CSR usually involves focusing on new opportunities
as a way to respond to interrelated economic, societal and environmental demands
in the marketplace. Many firms believe that this focus provides a clear competitive
advantage and stimulates corporate innovation. CSR is generally seen as the
contribution of business to sustainable development which has been defined as
"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs", and is generally
understood as focusing on how to achieve the integration of economic, environmental,
and social imperatives. CSR also overlaps and often is synonymous with many
features of other related concepts such as corporate sustainability, corporate accountability,
corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, corporate stewardship, etc.
CSR
commitments and activities typically address aspects of a firm's behaviour (including
its policies and practices) with respect to such key elements as; health and safety,
environmental protection, human rights, human resource management practices,
corporate governance, community development, and consumer protection, labour protection,
supplier relations, business ethics, and stakeholder rights.
Corporations
are motivated to involve stakeholders in their decision-making and to address
societal challenges because today's stakeholders are increasingly aware of the importance
and impact of corporate decisions upon society and the environment. The stakeholders
can reward or punish corporations. Corporations can be motivated to change
their corporate behaviour in response to the business case which a CSR approach
potentially promises. This includes:
1. stronger
financial performance and profitability (e.g. through ecoefficiency),
2. improved
accountability to and assessments from the investment
community,
3. enhanced
employee commitment,
4. decreased
vulnerability through stronger relationships with
communities,
and
5. improved
reputation and branding.
CSR in
Nigeria
In Nigeria,
the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday May 21, 2008 approved the
development of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy for the country,
to instill ethical behaviour in Nigerian businesses. The Minister of National
Planning Commission, Dr Sanusi Daggash, who gave details of the memorandum,
said it referred to the adoption of responsible business practices by organizations,
to improve the society in which they operate.
"CSR is
the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to economic
development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families
as well as of the local community and society at large," he said.
The Minister
said the policy would include "beyond law commitments" and activities
that
would
necessitate an expectation to "give back" to society. He said the
policy would ensure corporate governance and ethics, health and safety, human
rights, human resource management, anti-bribery and anti-corruption measures.
One reckons that the policy formulators will take note of similar global policies
that might point Nigeria in the direction of developing a viable CSR policy before
the United Kingdom developed its CSR Policy, Gordon Brown, prior to becoming the
Prime Minister said; “Today CSR goes far beyond the old philanthropy of the
past donating money to good causes at the end of the financial year and is
instead an all year round responsibility that companies accept for the
environment around them… Now we need to move towards a challenging measure of corporate
responsibility, where we judge results not just by the input but by its outcomes:
the difference we make to the
world in
which we live, and the contribution we make to poverty
r e d u c t i
o n ” ( C o r p o r a t e S o c i a l Responsibility - A Government Update
www.csr.gov.uk)
. There is no doubt the committee saddled with the responsibility of developing
a CSR policy for Nigeria will learn from the countries (especially developing
ones)
that have
adopted and are implementing such policies successfully.
Prior to the
above declaration of the Federal Government, Nigeria did not have a CSR policy.
Several companies operating here took the initiative to develop a CSR guideline
or code for themselves. It is not out of place for a study to have “found that
indigenous firms perceive and practice CSR as corporate philanthropy aimed at addressing
socio-economic development challenges in Nigeria. This finding confirms that
CSR is a localized and socially embedded construct, as the 'waves', 'issues'
and 'modes' of CSR practices identified amongst indigenous firms in Nigeria
reflect the firms' responses to their socio-economic context” (Amaeshi et al:
2006). One of the leading telecommunication companies in Nigeria developed a
CSR Policy Direction document in 2004 in conjunction with a consulting outfit.
The
communication company has since gone ahead to establish MTN Foundation to lead
its CSR policy implementation locally. Nets for Life is a CSR initiative. Under
the project 82,500 long lasting insecticide nets (LLIN) were distributed over
three years by the Nets for Life project with funding from Exxon Mobil
Foundation, Coca Cola Africa Foundation and Standard Chartered Bank. It is
their way of contributing to the fight against malaria; the disease without
borders in
Nigeria.
Nigeria needs over 70 million LLIN to cover the nation effectively.
The most
vulnerable group of people to malaria in our country are; children under the
age of 5 and pregnantwomen. The Federal Minstry of Health desires to see all
pregnant women and
children
under the age of 5 sleep under LLIN every night. In February 2006, British
Council
organized a
stakeholder's forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to improve
awareness of the role of standardization in economic growth, world trade and
sustainable development. The forum also focused on developing and encouraging
corporate citizenship and social responsibility in collaboration with Standards
Organization of Nigeria (SON), Equality Foundation UK and the UN Global
Compact.
In November
2006, British Council in collaboration with Standards Organization of
Nigeria,
Prince of Wales international Business Forum, Wales, UK; United Nations
Information
Centre and Lagos Business School held three-day training at Lagos
Business
School (LBS).
The training
was focused on capacity building of ISO members and stakeholders involved in
developing the standardization infrastructure in Nigeria, There was also a one-day
forum on Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility to develop strategies
for increasing national and regional cooperation and to share experiences. Dangote
Foundation was founded recently to lead the CSR initiatives of the Dangote Group
of Companies in all parts of Nigeria. It
seems most companies in Nigeria are keen to spin even the small CSR activities
they implement beyond proportion in the media.
Conclusion
Once the CSR policy
initiated by the government is ready and adopted we can easily
measure the performance of
Nigerian companies against the homegrown policy.
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