According to Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, a social business is a non-profit company with no dividend distribution, created to fulfil a social purpose. Like a charitable organisation, the central aim is to solve a social problem. But at the same time, because it is a company, it needs to be financially sustainableThis ensures independence, security and the ability to focus exclusively on creating lasting impact.
Social Investment = Human Impact + Financial Impact - Balai
Real change starts from the inside out. This has been Cape Verde's path, in conjunction with its international partners. There is a lot of talk about investment and what makes our country an attractive place to create new business opportunities, despite not having the great natural resources of other African neighbours.
The investment sector is basically a market like any other: there is an interested public with clear habits and expectations. Qany product has to be adapted to its audienceand understand what to sell, to whom and under what conditions is essential.
Top of the list is Cape Verde's economic stability. This has been achieved over the years thanks to consistent public policies, but also due to an essential factor: the identity and resilience of the Cape Verdean people. We have always had the ability to think in community - in families, in neighbourhoods, in schools. Our humanity manifests itself in concrete gestures. We only have to remember the case of São Vicente after the rains of 10 and 11 August: the next day, people were already rebuilding their island with their own hands, relying on volunteers who came from other parts of the country just to help.
This is it ability to take care of the collective that sets us apart. Over the years, this spirit has been consolidated in both state and civil society organisations, and more recently also in companies - from the largest to the smallest.
I remember at an international conference, a participant once asked me by way of a challenge:
- What makes Cape Verde so special?
The answer was simple: even with our multiplicity of origins and cultures, we always know how to assert ourselves as Cape Verdeans. We are united in our difference, and this has allowed us to grow and show the world that Cape Verde is an excellent place to invest, even in the face of many challenges.
This is social vocation which underpins the conviction that the time has come to see the Third Sector as a strategic investment space, capable of generating double returns: human impact e financial impact.
If I take care of my consumer, I increase the likelihood of them becoming loyal to my brand. If my brand transmits human values and supports initiatives that generate social impact, then it gains a competitive advantage when the consumer has the option of buying a product because it fulfils their needs, or buying a product because they identify with the brand and the company.
O Kumunidadi Summit is about exactly this - and much more. These days 5th and 6th Decemberat the Bank of Cape VerdeThis event will emphasise the urgency of working in the social sector with a high level of professionalism. Only in this way will it be possible to respond effectively to the social problems that are at the root of the creation of so many organisations and to turn social impact into a real engine of development.
