‘CSR Must Be For Profit’

By Esther Awuah

Corporate organizations have been asked to see Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes as an innovative way of deriving profits rather than for philanthropy only.

Ivy Arcos, Africa Representative of the Canada Export Centre, who stated this, said “Contrary to widely-held belief in our part of the world, CSR is not philanthropy. Neither should it be seen as a burden or drain on an organization’s resources. Rather it should be seen and embraced by organizations as an innovative means to maximize profits and value. Corporate entities need to rethink and review their understanding of CSR in this regard."

CSR is commonly described by its promoters as aligning a company’s activities with the social, economic and environmental expectations of its “stakeholders.” 

Most corporate entities in Ghana engage in various CSR initiatives like provision of bore holes, building schools and libraries for deprived communities.

But Ms Arcos emphasized that “CSR is not just about what a company does with the profits it makes; it is about how a company makes its profits in the first place.”

Ms Arcos was speaking at the 2nd Annual CSR Conference in Accra, which was on the theme “Mainstreaming Emerging Issues of Corporate Social Responsibility into Organizational Behavior”.

She stated that by making local communities a part of their supply-chain, many organizations had reduced and removed bottlenecks associated with their operations and increased productivity in the process.

Through such involvement, she noted, local communities feel a sense of ownership in an organizations success, adding that such cooperation ensures the effective resolution of issues and misunderstandings associated with an organization’s operations.

She noted that companies should not let their CSR agenda restrict them to only the communities, but must have equal responsibility to its employees, government as well as customers.

“It is for this reason that an organization must incorporate very good labour standards as well as ethical behavior in its operations. On the labour front, organizations should be able to incorporate into their human resource programs, policies on gender, disability, occupational & healthy & safety issues etc.,” Ms Arcos emphasized.

She called on corporate organizations to honour their tax obligations to government and also comply with guidelines from government institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Foods & Drugs Board and Ghana Standards Authority.

She also advised government to put in place policies to make it attractive and worthwhile for organizations to engage in CSR.

She said “instead of treating corporate entities as "cash-cows", ready to be milked, governments should see corporate entities as developmental partners, with the resources and capabilities to help government fulfill its social obligations to its citizens.”

Joseph Emmanuel Allotey-Pappoe, Board Chairman of CSR Foundation Ghana, organizers of the conference, said the event would be an annual one where there would be a national dialogue on the role of CSR in Ghana.