Mother of Sustainable Development’ to visit Nigeria, headline continent-wide Conference on CSR

Dr. Gro Brundtland

Popularly called ‘Mother of Sustainable Development’; Dr. Gro Brundtland, Youngest ever, Two-time, First & Only Female Prime Minister of Norway, Former Director General, World Health Organisation, Chairman, UN World Commission on the Environment and Development (aka Brundtland Commission) and UN Special Envoy on Climate Change will visit Nigeria in June in order to headline the 2012 Africa CEO Roundtable & Conference on Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility (AR-CSR™) scheduled to take place at the Tinapa Business Resort, Calabar, Cross River State from June 28-29, 2012, as Keynote Speaker.

In a statement from the conveners, ThistlePraxis Consulting Limited; the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change will be hosted by Cross River State at the Tinapa Business Resort. Graham Sinclair, President, Africa Sustainable Investment Forum and Principal, Sinclair Consult, South Africa will lead discussions at the CEO Round-table this year amongst other speakers.

The 2012 Africa CEO Round-table and Conference on CSR (AR-CSR™), with the theme: ‘Sustainable Development: Expanding Economic Opportunities through Public-Private Synergy’ is an industry flagship, all-inclusive CSR & Sustainability management event of the year and the first of its kind in Africa. Leaders from a variety of sectors from far and wide within and outside the continent will gather to share their

expertise and experiences on an array of Business and Development topics.

ThistlePraxis Consulting Limited, an Assessments and Strategy Firm, is presenting the 2012 AR-CSR™ in strategic partnership with Friends of the Global Fund, Africa (Friends Africa) and CAPPS Consult. The Cross River State Government is also partnering with this agenda-setting event, as Official Host.

This year’s event seeks to make a case for responsible public/private synergy as well as illustrate how the content and effectiveness of three contemporary elements of the global economy, that is - corporate social responsibility, the achievement of the millennium development goals and the opening up of centrally planned economies to market forces - are being, or might be, effected by the appropriate ‘bottom up’ and ‘top down’ incentive structures and enforcement mechanisms devised by the society of which they are part.

The series of events scheduled to take place include: a high-level roundtable session strictly for CEOs, GEDs, Captains of Industries and Board Chairmen around the continent, followed by a one-and-a-half-day conference that will be open to participation by all interested professionals. Other activities include the Sustainable Solutions Showcase (an exhibition on Sustainability & Sustainable solutions in partnership with the Nigeria Leadership Initiative), Eco-Tourism Tour, Cocktails & Gala Dinner amongst other inspiring and intellectually stimulating activities.

According to the Lead Consultant/CEO of ThistlePraxis Consulting; Ini Onuk; ‘the choice of Dr. Brundtland is very instructive and is intended to mark the 20^th year of the first global platform on Sustainable Development which was inspired by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by our Keynote Speaker and renamed the Brundtland Commission’.

The AR-CSR™ platform remains relevant to discuss issues of Sustainable Corporate and Economic Development, Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as the enhancement of  a public-private synergy for the attainment of a credible business environment in Africa, through comparing notes, learning new trends and providing support for organizations and practitioners alike on the constantly changing direction of businesses across the world. From a business perspective, the goal of sustainability is to increase long-term shareholder and social value, while decreasing industry’s use of materials and reducing negative impacts on the environment. 

In further comments, Ini Onuk re-iterated the essence of this gathering;  ‘…from a business perspective, sustainable development favors an approach based on capturing system dynamics, building resilient and adaptive systems, anticipating and managing variability and risk, and earning a profit.’

African Business and NewsAfrica are media partners to the 2012 AR-CSR™ as well as Nigerian Leadership Initiative, Lagos State Signage & Advertising Agency (LASAA), Khumo Marketing Group South Africa, Connect Marketing Services, JustMeans and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

The last edition of the event with the theme: ‘The Business Case for CSR and its impact on African Economies’ held in June 2011. Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland and President, Mary Robinson Foundation and Prof. Craig Smith, INSEAD Chaired Professor on Ethics and Responsibility participated as Keynote Speaker and Lead Discussant, respectively.

Participation at the 2012 AR-CSR™ is strictly by registration. More details can be obtained from http://www.ar-csr.com.