Every now and then a buzzword or phrase becomes part of our professional or daily conversations and is frequently used in social media and in the traditional media. The online dictionary definition of a Buzzword is ‘A word or phrase often an item of jargon,  that is fashionable at a particular time or in a particular context’. Here are some examples of buzzwords or phrases often used in conversation these days especially if you work in the science & technology, creative, private or social sectors: Sustainability, Inclusion, Streamline, Disruption, Innovation, #Entrepreneurship, #Social enterprise. Sometimes people feel pressured to use buzzwords because everyone else is using them. This can lead to the inaccurate use of such words particularly when a user is unsure of its meaning. Once this happens others listening can be misinformed. As a result they start to use the word inappropriately as well and the cycle continues.

What is a Social Enterprise?

I am excited to begin this new column to discuss social enterprises and social entrepreneurship which have both become buzzwords in Lagos especially in the past five years. Globally, it is safe to say that the social enterprise movement began in the mid 1970s.  I will expand on this point later in this article.

Defining the social enterprise is no easy task as the field is still evolving and there are differences in opinion even among experts about what constitutes a social enterprise and how these organizations differ from traditional enterprises. In this article I shall focus on the general consensus amongst academics and professionals.

In Nigeria I find that there is extreme confusion about the social enterprise. For some the social enterprise is simply a not-for-profit organization (popularly called NGOs). Whereas others think that it is a #business which regularly carries out social projects. Both of these ideas are wrong.

So what is a social enterprise? A social enterprise is a revenue generating business whose mission (reason for existence) is to primarily create social and/or environmental impact or value in some manner or form. To qualify as a social enterprise you have to be selling a product or service that will create social or environmental change especially for marginalized segments of society (i.e. women, disabled etc.) or humanity in general. A social enterprise can be said to be operating at full capacity when it is able to replicate or expand its business model thereby creating a new and fairer market equilibrium. This definition will make more sense when you look at the examples.

Examples of Social Enterprises

As I mentioned earlier, the social enterprise movement began in the mid 1970s. Nobel Prize Laureate, Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh is credited with starting the global social enterprise movement. In the 1970’s Yunus witnessed famine and poverty especially among the women of Jobra village in Bangladesh. These women were borrowing money from traditional money lenders to start their businesses but they were being victimized for not being able to pay the money back at the high interest rates. Yunus worked out that if he gave 42 women $27 each as a loan, they would be able to run their businesses and pay back the loans. The women invested the small loans and were able to pay Yunus back with some interest.

From the loans paid back, Yunus was able to lend money to other women in the community. In doing this, Yunus created the first micro-credit bank. He called it the Grameen Bank. Micro-Credit banks now exist all over the world. Yunus created a new market equilibrium for marginalized groups who could not borrow money from the traditional banking system. So you see, there is more to the social enterprise than most people realize. A key component of a successful social enterprise is that it must disrupt an existing and unjust status quo and create #opportunities for neglected segments of society- in this case the women of Jobra village.

A more recent example of social entrepreneurship is Bridge International Academies. Bridge International Academies is a social enterprise with a mission to create ‘knowledge for all’. The organization provides high quality low income schooling for the poorest families with the use of information technology in Uganda, Kenya and most recently in Lagos Nigeria (Ijegun in Alimosho LGA and Igbogbo in Ikorodu). Bridge International academies commenced operations in Kenya in 2009. They have plans to expand to other parts of Africa and Asia. Bridge International receives funding from foundations and venture capitalists. So, just like Grameen Bank, Bridge International Academies has created a model that provides a fair market equilibrium for poor children who normally would not be able to afford quality education in expensive private schools.

 

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