By Our Reporter
Business leaders from across Africa will seek solutions to
some of the continent’s most challenging social issues at the Africa Shared
Value Leadership Summit in Kigali, Rwanda on 4 – 5 June 2020.
The Summit, that will end today will draw leaders from some of Africa’s biggest
companies as well as decision-makers from government and civil society,
provides a platform for business to collaborate on social upliftment of the
continent, as well as to share insights about the most effective ways for
companies to solve social challenges as a core part of their business
operations.
The decision to hold the 2020 Summit in Rwanda gives delegates an opportunity
to learn from the economic and social developments in the country over the last
two decades, with the summit’s content aligned with selected priority areas of
Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST1).
“The solution-seeking sessions enable attendees delegates to discuss specific
regional challenges and collectively contribute and suggest possible
solutions,” says Shared Value Africa Initiative CEO Tiekie Barnard. “This
provides a significant opportunity for delegates to learn and form networks
across the continent.”
In line with the Summit’s partnership with Africa Leadership University (ALU),
these sessions will be facilitated by students and alumni of ALU School of
Business MBA course, with ALU faculty members compiling reportage of these
sessions. Undergraduate students will be ambassadors throughout the Summit,
while African Leadership Group founder Fred Swaniker will also give a keynote
address at the Summit.
The solution-seeking sessions allow some of the greatest minds in Africa to
grapple with complex issues:
How does Africa connect across borders to make the continent the global tourist
destination?
What is required to create food security in Africa?
Health Care: Outbreaks, pandemics and the future of Africa’s health
Expectations vs reality: tracking the societal benefit of the AfCFTA
How do we build Africa’s Shared Value ecosystems?
Exchanges in conversation: Entrepreneurship and Public-Private Partnerships
“The Shared Value business model, developed by Harvard
Business School’s Prof Michael Porter and Mark Kramer, is practised by an
increasing number of businesses across the world,” says Shared Value Africa
Initiative Founder and CEO Tiekie Barnard. “This provides opportunities to
build business initiatives around solving social problems at scale, contributing
to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on the
continent.”
The Summit has become a platform for Africa’s business thought leaders to
exchange insights and share their experiences implementing the Shared Value
business model in the diverse African context. The event connects speakers from
industries ranging from telecommunications to healthcare, manufacturing and
mining.
Discussions enable participants new to Shared Value thinking to learn how to
embed shared value into core strategy of the business, and how to develop
shared value opportunities to address social and environmental issues.
As well as the solution-seeking sessions, the Summit will also feature African
leaders sharing how their businesses create economic value and value for
society, as well as presentations from various industry sectors.
Current Sponsor of the Summit include Abbott, KCB Group and Old Mutual Ltd.
The Summit, which took place 23-24 May 2019 in Nairobi, was attended by more
than 350 business executives per day over two days, with more than 18 countries
represented.
The Summit also aims to encourage business to contribute to achieving the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on the continent. “As with
previous years, the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be a theme throughout
at the Summit as a guide to the business leaders to demonstrate how business
can contribute to achieving the goals and to addressing e social
challenges, a core part of their operations” says Barnard.
