Business in Society

Deepening The Private Sector's Contribution To Building A Sustainable Society

By Shameela Soobramoney, CEO at The National Business Initiative

South Africa continues to face the complex challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty. The deeply entrenched exclusionary structures hinder progress in fundamentally addressing these economic and social issues. The impact of this is that significant parts of our society, mainly young people and women, remain excluded from economic participation, which has far-reaching societal and developmental effects. These issues are further exacerbated by a range of factors including geopolitical tensions, climate change, rapid technological change and others that add further nuance and complexity.

Business must navigate through a consistently volatile and unstable operating context, strategically managing the short, medium and long-term horizons. Doing this successfully requires companies to be agile, responsive and innovative. In the South African context, this cannot be done without a deep sense of commitment to the role of business in society, supported by tangible and impactful action.

The National Business Initiative (NBI) has, for almost 30 years, had the privilege of guiding, supporting, and demonstrating the private sector’s contribution to building a thriving, stable and sustainable economy and society across a range of areas including skills development and job creation, capacity building and environmental sustainability. Over this time, we have built a strong sense of what the private sector should be doing to further drive change and achieve meaningful impact.

The private sector plays a central role in driving change across its sphere of influence, which is wide-reaching and therefore can achieve wide-ranging change and impact. Firstly, the private sector plays a critical role in providing employment for a significant portion of people. Secondly, the private sector provides critical goods and services. Thirdly, it influences practices through companies’ procurement and supply chains. Additionally, the private sector can support government priorities through resources, capacity and expertise. Within each of these areas, businesses can be transformative, agile and responsive in ways that can shift the dial considerably. However, to achieve this there are some fundamental requirements for business.

Bold and Courageous Leadership

Bold and courageous leaders who understand broader societal issues and challenges, have a deep sense of responsibility and are committed to the hard and complex work it takes to realise change are necessary in achieving the society that we want1. A core aspect of this is the willingness to collaborate and partner, within the private sector and across sectors, to achieve collective action and impact.

The NBI has seen examples of the power of strong leadership towards collective action. In 2016, the CEO Initiative was launched to tackle urgent priority areas. As the Secretariat, the NBI witnessed firsthand what can be achieved with leadership and a commitment to working together towards a shared vision, the impact of which we still see today.

A more recent example is through the work on the Just Transition Pathways initiative led by the NBI in partnership with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) which aimed to collectively develop a view of what the decarbonisation pathways to net zero emissions by 2050 could look like for the South African economy.

This research was conducted together with the South African private sector and other relevant stakeholders from government, labour and civil society and it has had a significant impact on South Africa’s climate policy landscape and enabled South Africa to secure over $8.5-billion in Just Energy Transition finance from the international community at COP26.

As part of this process, the NBI engaged with 30+ CEOs through the CEO Champions platform. The CEO Champions were fundamental in providing leadership and commitment to support the implementation of JET Skilling Implementation Plan and ensuring South Africa’s Energy Transition is Just. The CEO Champions continue to be a critical platform for creating a shared vision for the country, supported by implementation and action.

Building Trust

It is widely accepted that there is a trust deficit between the government and the private sector. While arguably there have been significant strides taken and improvements in the relationship between the government and business, with examples of shared commitments and action, there is still scope to align and strengthen priorities. The private sector has significant resources, expertise and assets to support and work alongside the government in improving infrastructure, service delivery, to name a few, through the implementation of key initiatives.

One such initiative is the Technical Assistance, Mentorship and Development (TAMDEV) Programme. The overall goal of TAMDEV is to strengthen the capacity of the state, with the aim of improving service delivery and creating job opportunities. This is done through the deployment of retired experts and technical professionals from both the private and public sector to strengthen vulnerable public institutions and address service delivery constraints. Its mandate is to create jobs and improve service delivery by building and strengthening the capacity of the state in the areas of infrastructure, financial management and local economic development.

TAMDEV is a powerful private sector-led initiative that yields tangible results and outcomes for the benefit of broader society.

Driving Innovation

A major contribution that the private sector makes to society is through products and services. One of the most powerful ways that the private sector can respond to societal needs is through innovation. A critical aspect of this is creating an enabling environment to support innovation. This often requires an inclusive and diverse workforce in a workplace that drives creativity. The NBI’s Transformation Blueprint outlines how organisations can support an inclusive and transformative workplace that encourages employee engagement, increased productivity, and inclusion.

For organisations that have a deep understanding of broader societal challenges, innovation can drive responsive and responsible products and services that directly address these challenges and create shared value. Furthermore, innovation also relates to improved business practices that can have broader economic and social impact. An example of this is how companies’ can rethink and transform procurement processes to increase the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into the supply chain and thus support the growth and sustainability of SMEs.

Through our Installation, Repair and Maintenance (IRM) initiative, we have seen the incredible economic, social and community benefits that when companies take a strategic decision to promote diversity and localise their supply chains with a focus on SMEs. The ability for SMEs to grow and be sustainable increases their ability to create jobs and, through the IRM model, these jobs are earmarked for young people in the community. Our embedded demand-led skilling approach leverages the TVET college system and works with these institutions to help ensure that people are employable and hence increases the likelihood of the trainee obtaining permanent employment.

These examples illustrate the impact that can be achieved when company’s view themselves within society, and not apart from it. As is often said: “Business cannot thrive in a society that is failing”. The private sector is part of society and the ability for businesses to grow and thrive requires a more equal, sustainable and stable economy and society. Creating that economy and society needs strong leadership, multi-sectoral approaches and partnerships, and new and different ways of thinking and working.

The enormity and complexity of our challenges requires participation and commitment across the public and private sectors. As the NBI, we have been fortunate to work closely with the government and the private sector in a number of critical areas and initiatives that have shown significant impact and have underscored the power of collaboration and collective action. We remain optimistic that the private sector will deepen and strengthen its contribution to working with the government and building a sustainable and thriving society.

References

NBI Transformation Blueprint Report - National Business Initiative