Blog

FINANCING THE GREEN ECONOMY

The power of collective action in evaluating what is needed to advance the green economy as researched by The National Business Initiative and KPMG, with support of the Green Fund (an environmental finance programme of DBSA). The NBI project demonstrated that there are enormous synergies and insights to be gained from collaborative planning. However, this […]

SHARED VALUE – TOUGH BUT TIMELY MEDICINE

Solutions are to be found in the problems but how many businesses can face the facts? When in hot water, take a bath. To many westerners, this Chinese saying is nonsensical. Yet it accords with a fundamental African way of thinking: when faced with something profoundly troubling, the solution lies in a deeper experience of […]

GROWING SOLUTIONS

Hemp is miracle crop with countless uses but restrictive legislation is holding us back. This year South Africa celebrates 20 years of Industrial Hemp research. But is this anything to celebrate? To put this into context, Canada started researching hemp at the same time and are currently growing more than 50 000 hectares a year […]

SME’S HAVE THE BIG ANSWERS

Shanduka Black Umbrellas – leading enterprise development through supply chain access. “Empowering black businesses, particularly your small-medium enterprises, is absolutely essential if we are going to transform and grow the economy of our country” – Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairman of the Shanduka Foundation. Across the world, entrepreneurship and the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector are […]

UBUNTU BRAND BUILDING

Branding based upon truth, that has a positive impact on our lives and the environment, is what the world needs now. I was born in 1966 in a small town in The Netherlands and had a truly happy and carefree childhood in a loving environment. I was lucky. I grew up surrounded by nature, always […]

WATER, CAPITALISM AND THE 21ST CENTURY

The industrial revolution and modern capitalism were powered by water, the sustainability revolution we are entering will depend on it. Water will define our future as clearly as it has our past. How we manage this scarce resource, the choices we make and those that are made for us as a result of our actions […]

CONSUMERS – AT THE HEART OF CHANGE

Have we forgotten that it is the consumers who hold the key to a product landscape that adds to development and growth? A decade ago something remarkable happened: Business leaders watched Al Gore present An Inconvenient Truth, and accepted that man-made climate change was real and catastrophic. CEOs said that something must be done and […]

PROSPERO’S LESSONS

Adaptation and reinvention is required to leapfrog environmental destruction. Once upon a time, long, long ago the activities of Earthlings began to alter the composition of Earth’s atmosphere to such an extent that they began to burn up. The Earthlings that had previously flourished and multiplied across the face of the plant began to die […]

WHAT IT TAKES…

Developing supply chains that lead to the security and development of the African workforce. Not too long ago, in conversation with a former colleague, I explained SABMiller’s objective to “imbed sustainable development within African Procurement”. Following a slight pause, the response was “That is quite gutsy! Not many organisations have been able to do that…” […]

ADDING UP

Small businesses pack a massive environmental punch. Despite their economic significance and critical role in job creation, when it comes to environmental management and their impact on the environment, the small business sector has been largely overlooked. When compared to their larger counterparts, smaller enterprises (in their individual capacity) may have a lesser environmental impact. […]