The concept of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) developed alongside the emergence of corporations more
than a century ago and is now practiced by most companies and institutions
around world. While corporations may vary in their level of commitment to CSR,
their practice is largely focused on corporate philanthropy such as donating to
charities, supporting causes or sponsoring individuals, groups and programmes.
However, some companies, intent on making their CSR impact more effective, are
rethinking this approach. Among these companies is Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank)
plc, a leading African financial institution headquartered in Nigeria and spread
across sub-Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom.
GTBank has always been heavy on CSR. The
bank maintains a clearly defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy
with targeted focus on Education, Community Development, the Environment and
Arts. Among its landmark CSR programmes are the GTBank Adopt-a-School programme
through which the Bank has taken over the provision of facilities to some public
schools across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. The Bank also sponsors three
annual secondary school football tournaments—The Lagos State Principals Cup,
the Ogun State Principals Cup and the Masters Cup—all of which have become major
grass-roots football competitions in the country. The bank’s backed Orange
Ribbon Initiative is the foremost Autism-focused initiative in the country
providing support and raising awareness for people living with Autism Spectrum
Disorders.
Not resting on its CSR feats, GTBank is
innovating how it gives back to its communities by going beyond traditional
corporate philanthropies to intervene in key economic sectors to strengthen
small businesses through non-profit consumer focused fairs and capacity
building initiatives that serve to boost their expertise, exposure and business
growth. The first big example of this new approach was the Food and Drink Fair
which the bank organized in May. Although the event had all the flavours of
Food festivals, with world-class chefs such as Marcus Samuelson and Raphael
Duntoye serenading cooking masterclasses, its raison d’étre was to boost the
enterprise of indigenous SMEs in the food sector. In that front it succeeded
quite remarkably with over 25,000 guests attending the fair and the over 100
SMEs seeing record sales of their products.
GTBank is now looking to repeat what it
achieved with the Food and Drink Fair in the Fashion sector. “We are thrilled
to be the first in the Nigerian financial sector to pioneer an initiative that
will assist in unlocking growth opportunities for businesses in the fashion
industry,” said the Bank’s MD, Segun Agbaje, in a Press Release announcing the
GTBank Fashion Weekend set to take place in November. “We are committed to
growing SMEs in a sustainable manner that is not driven by profits but focused
on empowering our customers and growing our economy collectively.” The Weekend,
it is understood, will have all the glitz and glamour of fashion events but at
its core will be the theme of Promoting Enterprise, which will be achieved
through the Fashion MasterClasses for entrepreneurs and designers as well as
retail exhibitions to boost the sales of local SMEs.
While in the process of organizing the
Fashion Weekend, GTBank also announced the launch of its virtual arts gallery
which the bank said will serve as a free platform for local artists to exhibit
their artworks and achieve greater market exposure. “At GTBank we see art as an
avenue for unlocking people’s creative potential and by creating ART635 we aim
to expand the opportunities for art education as well as broaden the reach and
viewership of the works of indigenous artists,” said Mr Segun Agbaje in a
statement announcing the gallery’s launch. “Although African art goes back
several centuries, the art industry in the continent is still young and largely
untapped and we hope that with ART635 we can drive its evolution into a
lucrative and vibrant economic sector,” he added.
Given the depressed economic situation
in Nigeria, and indeed across sub-Saharan Africa, GTBank’s new approach to CSR
is an apt response from a company keen on boosting the general economic fortunes
of its community. Small businesses, on which the economic growth and
development of most African states depend, need not just financial empowerment
but also capacity building and access to market, aspects that GTBank’s
CSR-tweak does address. The company’s new approach to CSR also shows that far
from just innovating for business growth, companies and organizations must
always evolve how they give back to their communities to ensure that their CSR
programmes continually make its desired impact.
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