The Landscape of Corporate Social Responsibility in Uganda: Its Past, Present and Future

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a very old concept and practice in Uganda. Literature roots it in the African culture and values, which are well described by the African Traditional Society (ATS). Interestingly however, its formal and modern traces start in the years of 1950s, with the strategic twist gaining significance in the early 2010s. To date, no outstanding model of CSR describes Uganda, but the commonest is the stakeholder model of Freeman. Challenging though, CSR in Uganda lacks high level political back up (that is, it has no place at Ministerial, Parliament and cabinet level discussions). Promising, however, a set of laws and regulations exist in Uganda that individually or collectively promote the growth of different CSR facets/dimensions. The socio-economic factors shaping CSR in Uganda are largely inclined to ensuring product safety, maintaining supplier relations, enhancing fair competition, improving quality of life of the society in which business operates, maintaining a good relationship with the community while fostering business development, and, desire to contribute to Uganda’s development. Also CSR Managers in Uganda are largely motivated towards CSR by external factors such as attracting and retaining customers, enhancing reputation and operational efficiencies to achieve competitive advantage, rather than internal factors such as CSR policies, employee welfare and CSR reporting. CSR promotion agencies are increasing in number though few are outstanding. Various ‘CSR Awards’ are organized annually to appreciate socially responsible organizations. The challenge with these awards is that each awarder uses a different evaluation criterion. This reveals a mixed understanding of what CSR exactly means in Uganda. However, from whichever evaluation angle, the common traces of CSR dimensions are,—Employee issues, Market place, community/society, and environment. Businesses too (local and foreign), except a few multinationals, have less ‘strategic engagement’ in CSR, that is, CSR which breeds a win-win situation for both the CSR engaging company and the CSR activity targeted beneficiaries. The majority of companies’ (large, medium and small) CSR is skewed towards community dimension with marketplace dimension scoring less favor. Furthermore, most SMEs shy from CSR engagements largely due to the misconception that ‘CSR is a cost center, rather than a cost saver’. However, their counterparts (large firms) believe it is yet another form of business strategy and that its rightful intervention and engagement, carries competitiveness. Lastly, the future of CSR in Uganda apparently rests in the introduction and piloting of the ISO 26000 (a social responsibility guidance standard), which has been piloted by the standards body, Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). Simultaneously, companies that have been successful and proved knowledgeable in engaging in CSR are getting open to others by sharing best practices. This way they act as role models, a spirit which we can baptize as ‘champions helping others to be like them.’