Use CSI to help government achieve Big Four agenda

By Belinda Mulindi Kenya Breweries Limited recent advertisement in the local dailies outlining how the company is advancing socio-economic development and participating in the government’s Big 4 agenda needs to be commended. I believe if Government came up with incentive schemes for companies to propel them to spend a percentage of their Corporate Social Investment budgets towards the Big 4 Agenda, that would aid government in realising its targets. Proper planning and integration of corporate social investments by both public agencies and the private sector backed up by reward system by the government could hasten realisation of some of the targets in the Big 4 agenda. Several firms have been spending millions of shillings on social investments in areas they are working in, and this if well harnessed they could make significant contribution to the country’s development. The success of the Big Four plan will depend on an effective partnership between the National, County governments and firms where the projects will be. Thus, the Government should come up with guidelines on corporate social investments and a reward system for any organisation that gears some of its CSI towards the Big 4 through tax rebates, subsidies and or other ways that may inspire corporate Kenya to participate in this initiative. The private sector on its part should identify areas in the Big 4 they have expertise in and provide their services through public-private partnerships. For instance, Kenya Breweries Limited in as much as it wasn’t through its CSI arm singled out areas they impact in the Big 4 agenda namely; manufacturing and food security. As it is today, many of the corporate social investments, though running in millions of shillings annually, are not well planned, aligned to national development or community needs. CSI initiatives can be used to promote development. Even though development is a government agenda, in recent years corporate organisations have vigorously embarked on it and with good cause. Government should welcome and work closely with corporates on mutually agreed initiatives, through laid down guidelines that state what development interventions are necessary and how they should be carried out. This will work for all parties involved, so that at the end of the day all are happy. The Government, through the President’s Big 4 Agenda has laid out their development agendas and the corporate funders, now have guidelines what the issues are and what may be sustainable in a certain area and thus the community in question have programmes or initiatives that they truly require. Through lessons learnt over the years, the corporate sector has established that to live in harmony with its hosts, it is better to plough back profits into the community. This is where corporate social initiative comes in. As it is today, Corporate Social Investment have not quite had huge impact in relation to development though many corporates including those in the public sector spend big time on such activities. The challenge is always that they are not strcutured and aligned to national development goals; they are always taken as tokens. The distribution of developmental projects is grossly imbalanced based on where a company has its operations. Furthermore, what index do corporates use to measure the level of development? And is there any follow-up after the project or funding is done? That said, CSI initiatives should not be the silver bullet that will boost the development agenda, however, it will surely make a difference. — The writer is a communications specialist.

Use CSI to help government achieve Big Four agenda

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