27 Sep 2022

 Botswana’s entrepreneurship landscape will benefit from ethical business practices and corporate sustainability promoted by the UN Global Compact (UNGC). 

 UNGC country manager, Ms Alina Masenya said at a media symposium in Gaborone  yesterday that the organisation helped to ensure resilience and prosperity in the long-term.

Ms Masenya said being an UNGC member generally exposed an entity to sector-oriented training, peer learning and networking.

She said the organisation offered SMMEs training on how to future-proof their businesses post COVID-19.

"We know of a lot of companies, not just SMMEs but even large corporates, which have been hit by the pandemic and are trying to rebuild. And now we are saying as they rebuild can they do it sustainably; keeping in mind all concerning human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption practices," she said.

That, she said, could build corporate sustainability and ensure adherence to the 10 UNGC principles.About progress made since launching in May, Ms Masenya said no companies had been signed on but conversations with both corporate and public sector entities, including academic institutions were ongoing.

The conversations had been going well and the organisation  anticipated seeing several companies signing on in the next few months sign on, she said.

Ms Masenya said public signing ceremonies that would essentially be testimonies about how the companies had fared in aligning their operations and strategies with the 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption would be ideal.

She explained that usually it took some time to understand and buy into new initiatives.

Ms Masenya said the organisation was in the process of forging ties with state-owned enterprises and Ministry of Entrepreneurship in efforts to enroll SMMEs on UNGC through specific initiatives.

She said UNGC was the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative with more than 15 000 companies and 3 000 non-business signatories in over 162 countries and 69 local networks.

The establishment of UNGC in Botswana was part of  UNGC’s three-year Africa strategy (2021-2023) which spells out an ambitious initiative to accelerate the collective impact of business in the continent, she said.

Ms Masenya confirmed an annual enrolment fee structure for local businesses with a revenue threshold of  less than P666 800 (USD 50 000) varied from P20 003.43 (USD1 500) to minimum P3 330 (USD250, 00) in order  not to leave anyone behind.

On membership requirements, she said companies ought to produce a commitment letter signed by the senior-most person being either the CEO, managing director or board chairperson.

She mentioned that the letter would be reviewed by their on-boarding team based in New York with a response time of 7-14 days. ENDS