Addressing SDGs in the Sharing Economy in Kenya with the Lens of Humane Entrepreneurship

Sharing resources via digital platforms has become popular all over the world and is one way of addressing the need for sustainable action. This chapter builds on the concept of humane entrepreneurship (HumEnt), where companies operate with a sustainable and human resource orientation. Humane entrepreneurship contains three dimensions: (1) the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) focusing on the firm’s competitiveness, (2) the sustainable orientation (SO) focusing on social values and concerns, and (3) the humane resource orientation (HRO) which focuses on taking care of human resources. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are in focus are goal 8 about decent working conditions and economic growth, goal 10 about reduced inequality, goal 11 about sustainable cities and communities, and goal 12 about sustainable consumption and production. The aim of this study is to examine how sharing economy companies address and visualize sustainability efforts by SDGs on their websites. In this chapter, we aim to contribute to the development of the theory of humane entrepreneurship by using this as a theoretical lens when studying SDGs in sharing economy companies in Kenya. Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, has the highest concentration of sharing economy start-ups on the African continent. Websites of 11 sharing economy companies based in Kenya were studied. The websites of the sharing economy companies were studied with a semiotic analysis approach combined with a thematic analysis. The findings show that the companies highlighted aspects of trust and seriousness (EO), they focused mainly on the social part of sustainability (SO), and they had to balance their efforts for providers and users (HRO). The conclusions are that companies in the sharing economy in Kenya to a certain extent address sustainable issues, but financial considerations might prompt the considerations for the people and the planet. Moreover, the companies that have been in business for a longer period seem to take more of a societal responsibility approach and address several of the SDGs.