Singapore, 27 August 2012 - Singapore Management University (SMU) will host the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) Connex, a new feature event to promote a deeper understanding of the impact of social responsibility on the business environments in Singapore and Africa.
ASBF Connex will be held on Wednesday, 29 August 2012, as part of the Pre-Forum Workshop of ASBF 2012, which is organised by the International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) and will be attended by delegates comprising top policy makers and business leaders in Africa and Singapore. ASBF Connex will feature a diverse line-up of speakers and panelists, including Singaporeans and youth groups who have set up social enterprises or are active in community service in Africa; as well as corporations and non-profit organisations which are committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Africa.
“Singapore is Africa’s largest investor among the Southeast Asian countries and increasingly we are seeing more Singapore companies venturing into more cities in Africa. With the growth in partnerships and business links between the two countries, it is important and timely to promote greater awareness of CSR and social enterprise models so that businesses – whether African or Singaporean – can be encouraged to give back to the African communities in which they operate,” said Professor Arnoud De Meyer, President of SMU.
“For SMU students, the social responsibility attitude and aptitude are nurtured from the time they start their undergraduate education, where each and every one is exposed to the community service ethos that is part of the SMU education. Our hope is to develop them into socially conscious business leaders and responsible global citizens. That this Connex forum, comprising a strong line-up of distinguished speakers and panelists, is entirely organised by students, is testimony that we are indeed making good progress as educators,” he added.
The team behind ASBF Connex – SMU Pendeza, has had experience in being involved in community service in Africa. Their work had won them the accolade of being one of the 10 finalists for ‘Project Inspire: 5 minutes to change the world’, a joint initiative by UN Women Singapore and MasterCard in 2011 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPlwVIfkLVY). They were also awarded the Shirin Fozdar Award by the Shirin Fozdar Trust Fund in 2011.
The group was formed with the purpose of reaching out to 180 girls in an orphanage in Kenya, Africa – Our Lady of Grace Children’s Home and Primary School. During their first expedition to Kenya in 2011, the team conducted lessons, covering topics that ranged from financial literacy and entrepreneurship development, to geography and cultural lessons. They returned to Africa this year to implement an entrepreneurship-financing framework, and encouraged the girls at the Home to develop business ideas and plans. They have also arranged for 10 African youth entrepreneurs to help mentor and inspire the girls. A small fund has also been established to help develop commercially feasible ideas.
“Our work in Kenya is not a one-off effort; we are committed to return to Kenya for at least another two years and we are focused on ensuring that our efforts at the Home will be sustainable in the long-term. We are therefore very honoured and grateful to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, IE Singapore and Singapore Business Federation for the opportunity to organise this forum as a platform to showcase the successful CSR projects and social enterprise models that have taken off in Africa. With so many Singaporean and African delegates in attendance, we hope that the case studies presented will inspire many more businesses to follow suit and actively engage the communities in which they are involved,” said Gary Lee, founder of SMU Pendeza and Chairman of the ASBF Connex Organising Committee.
The distinguished line-up of speakers at ASBF Connex include the following:
- Mr Nicholas Leong, Co-founder of Kenyan Riders
Kenyan Riders is a social enterprise premised on introducing Kenyan athletes to competitive cycling. Based on an innovative business model, the project benefits the local community by providing employment and inspiring a dream.
- Mr Benjamin Poh, Co-founder of C-Africa
C-Africa is an initiative by a group of Singaporean youths who started with the objective of providing aid to needy students in Africa. It has set up a bursary scheme that supports capable students in their secondary education and hopes to launch self-sustaining community development projects in the future.
- Mr Gary Lee, Founder of SMU Pendeza
SMU Pendeza is a student initiated Overseas Community Service Project to Kenya, Africa with the purpose of reaching out to 180 girls in an orphanage by developing educational programmes and creating a social enterprise model. So far, the team has led two expeditions to Kenya and is dedicated to further increase public awareness of corporate social responsibility in Africa.
- Mrs Tina Tan, Director, Director, Civil Service College International
Through training courses tailored for African officials, the Civil Service College is committed to helping develop Africa’s leadership.
- Mr Karim Dostmohamed, Senior Executive, Industrial Promotion Services, Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)
The Network’s organisations have individual mandates that range from the fields of health, education, architecture, rural development, to the promotion of private-sector enterprise etc. All of AKDN’s developmental activities are fully funded by revenue surpluses generated by agencies under its profit-making arm, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.
The closing panel discussion of Connex, themed “Fulfilling corporate social responsibility commitments and yet ensure financial sustainability is a possibility”, will feature key personalities in both the corporate and CSR space, and represent MNCs and local non-profit organisations.
The following panelists will debate the pros and cons of adopting CSR practices and also address the feasibility of incorporating CSR as a practice in both small and large enterprises.
- (Moderator) Dr Kirpal Singh (Moderator), Director, Wee Kim Wee Centre, SMU
- Mr Didier Acouetey, Executive President, AfricSearch Group
- Mr Sonny Aswani, Director, Tolaram Group
- Mr Laurence Lien, Chief Executive Officer, National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) & Nominated Member of Parliament
- Mr Tunde Onitiri, Senior Country Manager, International Finance Corporation, Singapore
- Mr Ray Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore
Enclosures:
1. Annex 1: ASBF Connex 2012 – Programme
2. Annex 2: ASBF Connex 2012 – Key messages by speakers
More information on ASBF Connex as well as the speakers and panelists at the forum can be found here: http://www.asbfconnex.com/
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About SMU Pendeza
SMU Pendeza is a student-led social initiative which aims to develop a sustainable model to inspire Singaporean youths to spearhead similar projects in under-developed regions. It has led two missions to Kenya to educate children aged between four and 16 as well as young adults.
In 2011, SMU Pendeza was selected out of 450 international entries as one of the top 10 finalists for ‘Project Inspire: 5 minutes to change the world’, a joint initiative by UN Women Singapore and MasterCard to help empower disadvantaged women and girls through education, skills training, financial inclusion and social entrepreneurship. The SMU team was the only tertiary group in the finals, the rest being full-time social entrepreneurs and government social groups. (Please see their video submission here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPlwVIfkLVY). SMU Pendeza was also awarded the Shirin Fozdar Award by the Shirin Fozdar Trust Fund in 2011.
About the Singapore Management University
A premier university in Asia, the Singapore Management University (SMU) is internationally recognised for its world class research and distinguished teaching. Established in 2000, SMU’s mission is to generate leading edge research with global impact and produce broad-based, creative and entrepreneurial leaders for the knowledge-based economy. It is known to be a pioneer for its interactive and technologically-enabled pedagogy of seminar-style teaching in small class sizes which remains its unique hallmark.
Home to more than 7,200 students, SMU comprises six schools: School of Accountancy, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, School of Economics, School of Information Systems, School of Law and School of Social Sciences, offering a wide range of bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degree programmes in business and other disciplines.
With an emphasis on generating rigorous, high impact cross-disciplinary research that addresses Asian issues of global relevance, SMU faculty collaborates with leading foreign researchers as well as partners in the business community and public sector through its research institutes and centres. Through executive education, the university provides public and customised training for working professionals in meeting the needs of the economy. Close relationships with leading universities, including The Wharton School, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, allow SMU to draw on their academic and research strengths in various collaborations. The SMU city campus is a state-of-the art facility located in the heart of downtown Singapore, fostering strategic linkages with the business and wider community. www.smu.edu.sg