South Africa sports - a brand in itself

I must be one of the last people in South Africa to see ‘Invictus’, Clint Eastwood’s film of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in recently post-Apartheid South Africa. As well as an incredible story, in which the Springboks came from underdogs to win in the final against the mighty All Blacks, it could also be seen as an observation on the power of PR.

Mandela had a deep, natural understanding of his audience, his ‘family’ as he puts it, and understood the power of sport to influence and unite a nation. Moreover, the incorporation of the Rugby World Cup into his drive for reconciliation would also deliver an intuitive and subtle fulfilment of the requirement to clearly brand this new nation on the international stage. Tourism, foreign investment, people and culture & heritage, are all core elements of a nation branding strategy and the Rugby World Cup, given its international prominence at a time when South Africa was looking for FDI, was a perfect vehicle.

Mandela ‘s belief in keeping the Springbok name and colours, something most associated with Apartheid, was brave and brilliant. Sending his ‘rugby troops’ into the townships to run rugby camps for kids who had never before touched a rugby ball, was what would now be called good CSR strategy, while inviting the press along, a PR coup. As Morgan Freeman, playing Mandela, states when footage of the team with the children appears on TV, those few seconds are worth a hundred speeches. A picture says a thousand words, and sport is emotive – with or without the Hollywood soundtrack.

Every business and organisation is trying to find the ultimate channel for its story, to change minds, gain followers, or to sell something. It’s no wonder so many big corporations choose sports sponsorship as a way to reach the masses. This year’s FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa has seen billions of dollars of sponsorship deals and advertising spend as companies try to make the most of the opportunity at home and abroad. One of the most interesting things about the 1995 Rugby World Cup as it plays out in Invictus is the absolute lack of money or large-scale expenditure – pure PR and branding through and through.

First East African CSR Awards to be held during World Economic Forum Africa

In one month, the first East African CSR Awards, in partnership with the East African Business Council (EABC), will be launched and open for entries on 15 February 2010. The awards will take place on the evening of 5^th May 2010 during the World Economic Forum Africa in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

For the first time, East African companies will be honoured for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and awarded for outstanding, innovative and high-class initiatives and programmes that create a high social and environmental benefit for the community and the business.

Entries will be accepted from any East African (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda) registered company, or from external individuals who are recommending a CSR initiative of any East African registered company.

East African businesses are encouraged to enter into the following categories:

(i) Best workplace practice;

(ii) Environmental excellence;

(iii) Most ethical & responsible business practice for supply chains; and

(iv) Most sustainable & scalable community investment.

As a preliminary entry criteria, the company must be able to demonstrate to high levels of corporate governance in their business operations and board decisions.

Entries will be judged by an independent panel of international and regional CSR, corporate governance and ethical business experts, and chaired by Elvis Musiba, former President, Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. The panel includes:

· Dr William Kalema (Managing Director DCDM Uganda and former Uganda Manufacturers Association)

· Ms Jane Nelson (Director of CSR Initiatives, Harvard Business School)

· Dr Judy Muthuri (CSR Lecturer, Nottingham University)

· Mr Steve Kenzie (Programme Manager for Responsible Business, International Business Leaders Forum and UK Focal Point for UN Global Compact)

‘These Awards mark a positive and promising trend in East Africa’s private sector toward a more responsible and ethical business pathway, leading the region’s sustainable economic growth’, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Chairman of africapractice (East African CSR Awards secretariat).

africapractice comments on CDM in Copenhagen on Point Carbon

Africa needs further CDM reform: analysts
UN guidance to reforming the CDM may boost development in Africa, but more is needed.

Published: 06 Jan 2010 16:17 CET
(c) Point Carbon, http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1364360 (subscription only)

At last month’s UN-led climate summit in Copenhagen, countries agreed to further guidance to the clean development mechanism (CDM), including measures to increase investment in countries that currently host fewer than 10 schemes.

While the CDM has raised billions of dollars for carbon-cutting projects in developing countries, 68 per cent of projects is dominated by China, India and Brazil.

To help foster development in poorer countries most vulnerable to climate change, the guidance suggests to defer payments and to provide loans to support in countries that lack projects.

“It certainly won’t hurt but it won’t turn things around overnight,” said Miles Austin with Ecosecurities, a developer of projects aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

“More reforms will be needed,” Austin said, pointing out that CDM development in Africa still suffers from a lack of demand for projects and a shortage of specialists, such as project auditors and consultants.

For instance, the CDM executive board could help improve demand by standardising a tool to calculate the emission factors for African electricity systems, he said.

The African continent accounts for less than 2 per cent of all registered CDM projects, with the bulk of the projects located in South Africa.

Eligibility criteria

Gregor Pfeifer, senior consultant at Africapractice, said that many African countries could benefit from the measures, particularly since they get around the more difficult criteria of regarding the general development status of host countries.

“While Africa is the continent with the highest number of least developed countries, the definition based on the number of registered projects (less than 10) includes countries such as Ghana and Nigeria, which are not LDCs,” he said.

Another measure calls for the CDM executive board to develop top-down methodologies for countries that lack investment, while requiring more transparency from auditors or so-called designated operational entities (DOEs).

The top-down development of methodologies should benefit the African continent given the relatively high costs and risks in developing a CDM methodology, according to Pfeifer.

However, it remains to be seen how suitable the methodologies will actually be for CDM developers in Africa.

Meanwhile, the requirement of reporting the amount of work done by DOEs may not be enough to remove the bottleneck in Africa, Pfeifer said, noting that some calls for the promotion of African auditors appears to have been excluded from the measures.

He welcomed the move for loans to cover the costs of the development of project design documents, validation and the first verification of projects which only need to be repaid starting from the first issuance of carbon credits.

“(But) if there was a genuine interest in promoting CDM in Africa in particular, grants and not only loans should also be provided,” he added.

By Jeff Coelho – jc@pointcarbon.com, London