International Development News Round-Up (Issue 96)
November 22, 2007
Role of corporate leadership in development
Companies can contribute to sustainable development and still be profitable according to a report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Doing Business With The World – The New Role of Corporate Leadership in Global Development is a follow up to the Statement of Intent for Doing Business with the World, which was signed by 12 business leaders earlier this year (and reported in February/March 2007 edition of Briefing). The report covers a number of issues such as ecosystems, governance, health and water that affect business operations and it also offers advice to businesses as well as governments. The companies that signed the Statement of Intent include ERM, ABN AMRO, BP, Anglo American, Eskom, Vodafone, Unilever, Toyota, GE, AES Corp, Statoil and Gruepo Nueva.
On October 19, 31 development finance institutions issued a joint statement committing themselves to positioning corporate governance at the centre of their sustainable development agenda in developing economies. Spearheaded by the private arm of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and The Netherlands Development Finance Company, the initiative is the first of its kind among the DFI’s.
This agreement between institutions that together represent nearly $1 trillion worth of assets worldwide is an acknowledgement of the important role good corporate governance plays in development. Other institutions involved include the Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank.
Intel, the technology company, has announced its intention to expand its corporate responsibility efforts in Nigeria. Following chairman Craig Barrett’s first visit to the African country, the Intel boss announced a “comprehensive set of digital inclusion projects” which will be aimed at improving vital public services such as education and healthcare as well as economic development in general. The programme, announced on October 31, has the support of the Federal Ministry of Health, with Intel also making agreements with the Federal Ministry of Education. Tangible benefits to communities include 150,000 new teachers and 3,000 computers for schools. Barrett is also chairman of the UN Global Alliance for Information and Communications Technology and Development.
A new UN Global Compact network has been set up in Vietnam in partnership with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Launched on September 26 in Ho Chi Minh City, the network has more than 100 businesses and it is hoped will “raise awareness of the role of corporate social responsibility in the development process”.
Corruption poses a deep threat to China’s economic growth and political stability according to a report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Published in October, Corruption Threatens China’s Future shows that corruption costs the country up to 3% of its economic output. The report also finds that corruption could be costing China up to $86bn each year and that the level of law enforcement surrounding corruption is low – with the chances of a corrupt official being given a jail sentence under 3%.
IBM, the technology and consulting firm, has partnered with the Grameen Foundation, the micro-finance organisation founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to enable the foundation to expand its software platform and thereby help micro-finance institutes around the world. The collaboration was announced on October 15 and the aim is to develop the software in such a way that it reduces costs and “streamlines the lending process”. IBM hopes the partnership “will enable us to make a strong contribution to an innovation that matters for the world”.
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