EDITOR’S COMMENT

The fierce urgency of now and why impact investment is so important

In its thought-provoking article “Justice delayed is justice denied”1, the non-partisan Aspen Institute says that this ancient legal maxim has been cast into stark relief as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to expose inequality and injustice all around the world.

Its call-to-action, with the focus on income inequality, gender parity, action against climate change, and racial equity, echoes the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr who spoke of “the fierce urgency of now” during his 1963 civil rights march on Washington.

The Aspen Institute, a platform for thought leaders to address the world’s most complex problems beyond the boardroom, pulls no punches when it says that systems have reached a breaking point globally. I, for one, feel a bit punch-drunk after reading/watching all the bad news, not least of all that Israel and Palestine are at loggerheads again, with casualties mounting. Here in South Africa, our beloved but oh-so-flawed country, it’s plain to see that many of our systems are broken.

And yet there is hope. While I get that the cynics will be having an emotional field day as a result of former president Jacob Zuma’s latest delaying tactics ahead of his corruption trial (the new trial date has been set for 26 May, by the way), former Free State premier Ace Magashule’s attempt to get his position as secretary-general in the ANC back, the deadlock between government and the unions around public service salaries, the latest deeply disturbing police crime stats and the arrival of a third wave of Covid-19, amongst many, many other negative events, South Africa has the potential to turn things around. The Daily Maverick’s Sean J Gossel puts it well2 when he says: “The Ramaphosa ANC has the upper hand, but the hard part is still to come. To win back voter trust and support, the ANC will need to professionalise the public service, choke off the patronage networks, stop protecting or excusing its corrupt members and adapt to being an open and transparent political party. Enforcing the step-aside rule was the first step in a long journey to modernise the ANC. Let us hope that Cyril Ramaphosa has the courage, stamina and political determination to carry on.”

The step-aside rule is, to my mind, a critical element of “Ramaphosa’s ANC” with its potential to weed out the corrupt elements of the party. Justice that’s seen to be done is desperately needed in South Africa for the sake of its long-suffering

Martin Luther King Jr.

citizens and its tarnished world image.

The recent annual meeting of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) saw about 500 of its members connecting with each other remotely, rather than in person, on the Aspen Meadows campus as has been the norm since 2013, thanks to Covid-19. Among the topics discussed was the need for immediate action. “Given the confluence of a global pandemic, crumbling economies and livelihoods, and reckonings on widespread racial inequities, (immediate action) is what the world needs.”

The takeaways from the meeting included an observation by Lisa Fitzpatrick, a Health Innovators Fellow and the founder of Grapevine Health, that trust is linked to vaccine uptake. South Africa has had a wobbly start in this area, with Business Insider reporting that stage two of the vaccine rollout programme had been set back owing to a lack of operational capability by a large number of the promised 3 000 sites3. Hopefully it’s a case of teething problems that may be quickly resolved, according to health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, and in so doing, regaining some lost trust.

Poverty, another topic on the Aspen agenda, was addressed by Jacqueline Novogratz, the author of a book titled Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World. When it comes to building trust, says the founder of Acumen, named by Fast Company as one of the world’s top ten Most Innovative Not-for-Profits, we have to start from a place of deep listening. “We must listen from a place of inquiry and not certainty, not to convince or convert, but to change ourselves,” she says. Her’s is a fascinating story, in case you’re looking for a mentor. When she founded Acumen4, not many people knew what impact investing – doing well by doing good, which is the cornerstone of the organisation – was about. Under her leadership, Acumen has invested $135 million in social enterprises across Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the United States. These entities have, in turn, leveraged another $746 million to bring basic services such as affordable education, healthcare, clean water, energy and sanitation to more than 308 million people.

“Impact investment is not only morally defensible, but now also economically advantageous, even necessary,” she maintains.

I think that our own leaders should order her book, which is in the running for the Porchlight Business Book of the Year Award5. To quote the google review, she “draws on inspiring stories from change-makers around the world and on memories of her own most difficult experiences, (divulging) the most common leadership mistakes and the mind-sets needed to rise above them.”

“The culmination of thirty years of work developing sustainable solutions for the problems of the poor, Manifesto for a Moral Revolution offers the perspectives necessary for all those – whether ascending the corporate ladder or bringing solar light to rural villages – who seek to leave this world better off than they found it.”

Just imagine it: a moral revolution in South Africa…

Ingrid Olivier, Editor

ingridolivier@idotwrite.co.za

1. https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/ justice-delayed-is-justice-denied/

2. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-0516-by-enforcing-the-step-aside-rule-the-anc-hastaken-the-first-step-towards-becoming-a-politicalparty/

3. https://www.businessinsider.co.za/vaccine-rolloutphase-2-in-south-africa-what-you-need-toknow-2021-5

4. https://acumen.org/jacqueline-novogratz/ in 2001

5. https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Manifesto_for_a_Moral_Revolution html?id=g0UgEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_ description&redir_esc=y