Africa’s developmental challenges can only truly be met through the mainstreaming of public–private partnerships (PPPs) that drive the creation of a shared value in the pursuit of profits and the development of infrastructure, it was held at the EY Strategic Growth Forum Africa 2014, on Wednesday.

The central premise behind creating shared value, EY CEO Ajen Sita explained, was that the competitiveness of a company and the health of the communities and economies around it were mutually dependent.

“It is a fundamental business philosophy that recognises that profit and purpose can coexist and be mutually reinforcing. It has inclusive, sustainable growth at its heart and is more relevant in the South African context now than ever before,” he commented.

Noting that business should be enabled by regulation to pursue profits, Massmart and Times Media chairperson Kuseni Dlamini said the concept of shared value in business should not be considered a “buzz word”, but rather a strategic imperative.

“It’s all about creating profit with a purpose. It needs to be embraced as a way of doing business and all businesses and government leaders should account for how they deliver on shared value though the creation of jobs, the support of entrepreneurship and skills transfer, for example.

“They should, in fact, be required to submit an annual report. This concept, however, requires cooperation from the public and private sectors, as we can’t talk about shared value without a shared vision,” he asserted during a panel discussion.

Sita added that African growth could only be achieved through partnership, as neither government nor business could “go it alone”.

“We must realise that out futures are tied together,” he stated.

This would require a narrowing of the trust deficit between government and business, coupled with the acceleration of an active dialogue between parties that developed an agenda for action, argued African National Congress treasurer-general Dr Zweli Mkhize.

“[A successful partnership] of this kind will see the government easing bureaucracy and regulation and will see business releasing uninvested capital,” he observed. 

British American Tobacco Southern Africa corporate affairs director Leslie Rance added that the most tangible ways in which a company could pursue the creation of a shared value in its daily operations was job creation, skills development and the provision and investment of capital.

“Regardless of the industry, any business can do these three things to some extent,” he commented.

The concept of shared value could also guide regional cooperation between sub-Saharan and other African countries, which Mkhize believed were integrally tied to one another’s “fate and fortunes”.

He added that it was inevitable that growth and development on the continent would result in the establishment of several growth nodes that could complement one another.

“As such, we welcome growth in other countries, such as Nigeria, as it is an indication of growth and the share of value on the continent,” he said.

Governments were, meanwhile, increasingly acknowledging the benefit of adopting the shared-value approach when interacting with other governments and the private sector, as African Development Bank (AfDB) chief of staff and cabinet director Anne Kabagambe explained.

“The AfDB’s funding is the cradle of what PPPs should be about, as it believes in infrastructure development and economic growth that is coupled with regional integration, a strong rule of law, stability and the right to own property.

“Heads of State in Africa [that we work with during these PPP projects] are already starting to bring the shared value concept on board,” she said.