Mauritius will host the second edition of the African Business & Social Responsiblity Forum, which will be held on 26 and 27 February at the Hilton Resort&Spa in Flic-en-Flac. Discussions during these two days will focus on the following theme “Sustainable Innovation as a Driver of Economic, Social and Environmental Transformation in Africa”.
Preservation of the environment has become a challenge that all world leaders want to take up, recognizing the importance of the environment and its role in the economic chain. How can we preserve the environment in which we live? How do you move a whole country, or even the whole world, towards sustainable development? These are all questions that must be answered if we are to preserve our environment. Everyone should be concerned: small and large companies, entrepreneurs, influential leaders …
A move towards sustainable development must therefore be set in motion and African entrepreneurs are aware of this. The second edition of the African Business & Social Responsibility Forum will be based on the theme of sustainable development: “Sustainable Innovation as a driver of Economic, Social and Environmental Transformation in Africa”. This conference will take place over two days, on February 26 and 27, bringing together small and large companies from several African countries as well as startups.
A great crowd for a high level conference
Stéphane Moudouté-Bell of Latitude Monde, the initiator of the Forum, wanted to set the bar very high by surrounding himself with the actors of entrepreneurship: opinion leaders and key decision makers in Africa, notably the Best African Entrepreneur of France, two winners of the L’Oréal-Unesco Prize, development agencies as well as investment funds, COMESA (common market for eastern and southern Africa) and African champions such as the ECOBANK and NSIA Groups, will also be present.
About a hundred delegates from the African and European continents are expected to attend the Hilton Resort&Spa in Flic-en-Flac for high level conferences, workshops, masterclasses and field visits around the chosen theme.
How can we appropriate “best practices” to promote sustainable development?
The objective of this forum is to enable African companies to fully enter the era of sustainable development. Are African companies ready to innovate while developing sustainably? What are the new challenges in terms of health, education, environment, job creation, new technologies, which they must face? How can these innovative companies conquer, in a responsible way, the international markets? These are all questions to which this conference will try to provide answers to enable African companies to appropriate, among other things, “best practices” in terms of social commitment, offering them at the same time a deserved space of recognition with high added value.
A conference that also promotes exchange and meetings between the various participating companies. This can lead to partnership possibilities for concrete societal actions, funding opportunities related to the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), stimulating SMEs and Start-ups to become masters in CSR.
Media coverage worthy of the event
Mauritius being the host of this African conference, the guests of honour are President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Vishnu Luchmeenaraidoo, who will be the guest speakers.
Given the magnitude of this conference, extensive media coverage will be deployed to cover the forum appropriately. The media groups TV5 Monde and CNBC (Africa’s most powerful multi-platform business media) will come to host and cover the event.
Rewarding African companies that innovate in sustainable development
This forum will be an opportunity to reward the remarkable and exemplary work that African companies are doing in the field of development. The African Business &Social Resposibility Award will therefore be presented to the African company that advances in this direction. Innovation in the sustainable development sector will be rewarded by a jury of high-level experts who will choose the winner after analysing the various dossiers submitted by several companies.
To participate, candidates must present a project that is sufficiently representative of their company’s involvement in CSR in the environment in which the company operates. Mauritian companies are cordially invited to submit their social actions to the organizing committee which will select the best practices through the Jury.
The criteria established for the analysis of applications are: the nature of the social action carried out and its context, the originality of the project and its replicability, the coherence with the stakeholders’ issues, the results and impacts, among others. The companies that have succeeded in integrating sustainable development into their management strategies will be rewarded during an Award Night, which will be held on Monday 26 February.
In addition, the registration fee is Rs 10,000 for both days. As the forum is accredited by the Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA), companies will be able to get reimbursed by the HRDC up to 60%. For more details on the conference, please contact the organizers or visit http://africa-businessforpeople.com/
