The domestic and foreign investing public has called on the Nigerian government to undertake policies that have social investment impact and promote inclusive business across the country. That was after they noted that over time, Nigeria had embarked on numerous programmes that were yet to cause the needed impact in moving positively the lives of those who are in the bottom end of the pyramid.
The stakeholders, who discussed extensively at the one-day African Road Show event, organised by the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) in partnership with the Inclusive Business Action Network (IBAN), said policies of the government could only be more impactful when there was collaboration between the private and the public sectors, with the latter creating an enabling environment for private investments that promote inclusive business.
However, they noted that with such policies, the government would create the right atmosphere to attract more investments, create employment, close the inequality gap and lift the over 45 percent of the people living below the poverty line.
“Inclusive Business models allow companies to engage poor and low income communities as partners, customers, suppliers, and employees in their supply chains. In our experience, these models result in spreading the benefits of growth to the poor,” said Melanie Moleno, programme director, Inclusive Business Programme-board of investments, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines.
Meanwhile, Moleno noted that the Inclusive Business models adopted by the Philippine government transformed the base of the pyramid into a new market for goods and services as well as a resource pool of talent, skilled labour and entrepreneurs. This relationship strengthens value chains and ensures the sustainability of businesses and their host communities.
According to Moleno, Inclusive Business model is different from mainstream business as the latter is for profit making aimed at maximising returns for the company while the former is more on the social impact.
On the other hand, and according to Royston Braganza, CEO, Grameen Capital India Limited, business that drives or promotes inclusive growth tends to be active in the agricultural, educational, health, housing and financial sectors of an economy.
Inclusive businesses in most developing economies face several external and internal constraints ranging from strict policy regulations, lack of capacity building, and access to finances/credits and asymmetric flow of information, he explained.
Braganza, however, noted that if Nigeria can stick to solving six challenges, including access to information, developing a forward looking policy, results-based finances by unlocking capita; impact invest
www. ment; capital with a conscience, and lastly ensuring that policies were all included by ensuring that no one was left behind.
“Nigeria needs to start looking at the bottom of the pyramid as core business partners and not like a form of corporate social responsibility,” Bala Magaji, director, convention on Business Integrity (CBI) and Business Innovation Facility (BIF2).
The 2019 African Policy Road Show event was aimed at understanding and leveraging learnings from the success story of the AVPN (Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, sister organisation to AVPA) whose systems and policy fora have become a successful framework.
The event, which is the maiden edition of the organisation, brought together no fewer than 111 leaders from public, private and social sectors providing a platform to unpack the challenges faced and celebrates the successes of building robust policy environment for increased social investment and inclusive business development.
The chairman, Board of Directors of the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), Yemi Cardoso, in his welcome address emphasised, “The importance of partnerships between Federal, State, Private entities and the social sector in building and strengthening a robust environment in which social investment and inclusive business can flourish in Nigeria.”
Corroborating his point was Christian Jahn, executive director of Inclusive Business Action Network (IBAN), said, “Inclusive business is a triple win for companies, the poor population, and the government – IBAN is convinced that supporting strong national inclusive business policies is essential for including all citizens in the benefits of Nigeria’s economic growth.”
The Lagos event was largely attended by stakeholders in the public, private and social sectors with keynote address by special guest of honour, the Vice President of the Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, ably represented by Ambassador Adeyemi Dipeolu, who assured the stakeholders in his remarks that “the Federal Government will provide microlending to about 2.5 million small trades and business to the lowest income earners through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).”
He talked about the Federal Government’s commitment to work with the private sector on the national social investment programme.
Also, in the remarks by His Excellency, the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, who commended the efforts of the AVPA and IBAN initiative and emphasised deeply the role of private capital to deliver the infrastructure required to grow Nigeria’s economy and provide jobs for millions of young Nigerians.
He talked about the importance of bridging the gap between the mindlessly wealthy and the hopelessly poor in society. He talked about Ekiti State’s readiness to work with private sector to ensure the social and economic programmes improve the conditions and prospects of the people of Ekiti State.
