Corporate giving gets a roadmap

Businesses in Namibia must treat corporate social investment as genuine development rather than public relations exercise, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah told the inaugural Namibia Corporate Social Investment Mukopano in Windhoek on Wednesday that the true measure of company giving lay not in donation size or visibility, but in lasting community impact.

"Corporate Namibia must ensure that CSI goes beyond symbolic contributions and becomes a meaningful driver of social and economic transformation," she said in a statement read by Kaire Mbuende, director general of the National Planning Commission.

The president emphasised that profitable, well-managed businesses remained essential for growth, employment and development. But companies must also recognise the communities underpinning their success.

"CSI should not be viewed as a public relations exercise or simply a compliance requirement, but rather as a genuine investment in society," Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

"True measure of corporate investment is not the size of an announcement or the visibility of a donation, but whether it creates lasting impact by improving education, supporting healthcare, empowering young people, strengthening families and placing communities on a path towards self-reliance."

The president called for corporate social investment and responsibility to become strategic development tools accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, Vision 2030 and Namibia's National Development Plans.

Stronger partnerships between government, business and communities were needed to expand opportunity across Namibia, especially in rural areas, she added.

The CSI Mukopano initiative identified seven priority areas: youth employment and skills development, education and learner support, water and sanitation, health and social wellbeing, food security and agriculture, enterprise and local economic development, and infrastructure and connectivity.

Tim Ekandjo, chief brand, marketing, communications and sustainability officer at MTC, said the partners would now develop a national CSI response action plan, identify priority projects, mobilise funding, build corporate participation, implement programmes and report annually.

The Mukopano coalition brings together government, private sector, civil society, development partners and social impact organisations tackling pressing needs: income inequality, youth unemployment, skills mismatches, regional poverty, gender disparities and water scarcity.