Corporate social investment is increasingly becoming a strategic business imperative. At the Fund we realized the symbiotic relationship between the Fund and the Namibian citizenry at large, hence the strategic alliance between the Fund’s business plan and its Corporate Social Investment Strategy.

Although the successes of our investments in their very nature, are not really quantifiable or measured in conventional terms, benefits are usually only apparent in the long term. The challenge is to invest in community programmes with a developmental impact.

We also acknowledge that whilst still in its infancy stage, through the Fund’s CSI programme, to date we have invested in a considerable number of developmental areas of the Namibian economy. Our next step, is to evaluate the efficacy of these investments, through the involvement of our community, because they are the very stakeholders who are the most affected. The mistake that often occurs is that instead of asking our communities what we can do for them, we offer and say this is what we can do for you; hence the real community needs fall between the cracks.

More increasingly so, is the importance of employee involvement, as they are the Fund’s ambassadors. Through CSI employees take credibility of the Fund and allow them to demonstrate the caring value of the Fund and they themselves become agents of empathy which may improve their own morale.

In conclusion, CSI is more that making donations, fulfilling our PR functions and earning accolades. It is about strategic alignment of corporate social investments, with the organizational goals, it is about shared responsibility and mutual accountability and it is about social development for a better country.