Business Leader to Converge at Africa Shared Value Summit

Business leaders from across Africa are slated to attend the second annual Africa Shared Value Summit this year which would take place on 24-25 May 2018 at The Maslow conference centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A statement made available recently stated that the summit would bring together business thought leaders, executives and change makers, including keynote speaker and co-author of the ground-breaking Harvard Business Review article that first outlined the Shared Value strategy, Mark Kramer, to share insights from their business’ Shared Value journey.

The speaker line-up of thought leaders and Shared Value trailblazers will be speaking to the theme Meeting the Challenge, showing how the Shared Value business model can help businesses to step up and contribute to achieving the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.

On the purpose of the meeting, the organisers stated: “The business world is changing, and those who do not stay ahead of the curve are sure to be left behind. It is no longer sufficient to take a profit-first business approach: not only is it not sustainable for the long term, but consumers at all levels are now demanding that the business world develop a conscience. Government regulations are slowly following suit, outlining development criteria to begin this critical shift but is this enough.

“The Shared Value business model is the key to unlocking the business growth and profit in addressing social issues. By identifying challenges that intersect with the business’ purpose and then integrating solutions into the business’ operations at every level of the value chain, doing good becomes part and parcel of doing good business. In essence, Shared Value reconnects the business agenda and the social agenda, intertwining profit and progress.”

“Corporate social responsibility has become entrenched in our public mind set. Business, having played a role in creating some of the challenges faced by society and the environment today, is now expected to lead the charge in facing and solving them. The instinctive response is often external policies – good works that rely on allocated resources, often as ephemeral as the feel-good PR they generate. This has its place, of course, but in order to make a real change, business must rewrite its strategic DNA,” the statement added.