Nigerian Social Enterprises

There are many examples of Nigerian social enterprises. Some of them are still in their early days and have not scaled their #business model for maximum social impact yet. Here are two examples:

DMT mobile and portable toilets. The company was set up in 1992 by Isaac Durojaiye. The mission of DMT according to their website is to primarily create social value by providing top quality, affordable and mobile toilets to maintain a cleaner and healthier environment. They al
so employ young street boys and train them to maintain the toilets, thereby keeping them off the streets. Read more at http://www.dmttoilets.com/aboutus.htm

WAVE-West Africa Vocational Education. WAVE was set up to “up-skill” West African youth and place them in stable jobs mainly in frontline hospitality and retail jobs. The organization is headed by the CEO Misan Rewane. The idea is to restore the dignity and enhance the livelihoods of West African youths. Read more at http://waveacademies.org/about/

For-profit or Not-for-profit?

One misconception about social enterprises is that it is always a not-for-profit legal entity. This is not the case. Social enterprises can be for-profit or not-for-profit. In my definition of social enterprises I mentioned that these organizations are revenue generating. It must be made clear at this point that for-profit and not-for-profit organizations both generate revenue for their operations, activities, staff salaries etc. The only difference between the two is that for-profit organizations share their profit among individual owners whereas not-for-profit organizations recycle their profit to go back into the organizational activities. This is because a not-for-profit is a public organization-not owned by any individual or set of individuals.

Therefore, whether a social enterprise is profit making or not-for-profit is irrelevant. It is still a social enterprise in each case because of its market-driven approach to social change.

What distinguishes a social enterprise from traditional not-for-profit NGOs?

Social enterprises are different from traditional not-for-profit organizations. Although both organizations may work towards social change and seek to create social value, the approach is different. Traditional not-for-profits typically rely on funds from foundations, government agencies and individual donors to implement social impact projects. They do not receive funding from venture capitalists or banks. They always take the form of not-for-profit legal entities. Social enterprises on the other hand use entrepreneurial or market driven tools to create social change and usually on a larger scale (through expansion or replicating the same model elsewhere) so they can create a new market equilibrium. Unlike traditional not-for-profit NGOs, social enterprises can share profit among owners if they choose to adopt a for-profit legal structure.

Encouraging Social #Entrepreneurship and Attracting Talent

The social enterprise model has enormous potential to solve many of today’s problems in a world where governments are overwhelmed with global and local concerns. Top business schools and universities such as Harvard Business School, and Stanford University teach social entrepreneurship. Philanthropists and businessmen who have foundations such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg seek out social entrepreneurs with bold ideas that can solve social problems such as access to quality education, clean air and water, quality healthcare, economic empowerment etc.

In Nigeria too, we are witnessing the emergence of different yearly business competitions and training opportunities designed to encourage business entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs alike. Examples include the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program (TEEP), LEAP Africa’s Social Innovators Fellowship Programme and the Pat Utomi Business Plan Writing Competition. Similar platforms like the ones above should be encouraged in order to attract the right type of personality and value orientation that is required for successful social entrepreneurship – people who have pioneering and scalable ideas that can solve some of Africa’s most pressing issues.

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LINDA BEMBATOUM

Linda Bembatoum has 14 years’ experience working in the Not-for Profit/Third sector and currently works as an independent Development Consultant under her own platform, Third Sector Development Solutions (TSDS) which she set-up in September 2013. As founder of TSDS, Linda has facilitated training workshops on ‘Sourcing for Grants and Grant writing’ for social entrepreneurs, NGO executives and creative entrepreneurs. These workshops are on a quarterly basis in collaboration with Enterprise Creative, Lagos. Some organizations and individuals that have benefitted from her workshops include staff from Freedom Foundation, Lagos Comic Convention, Pronatura International, Nigeria, Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, The Ayo Bankole Centre for Arts and Cultural Expression, LEAP Africa Social Innovators Fellows 2016 and staff from the National House of Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Linda has also provided rapporteur services at conferences, provided consulting services to social entrepreneurs and non-profits and has co-organized Edutainment events geared towards entertaining and educating children and adults on social issues.
Prior to this, Linda worked for Pro-Natura International, Nigeria (PNI), a locally and internationally registered NGO working on sustainable community development issues across the Niger-Delta and the South-Western states of Nigeria. She held the position of Senior Programme Advisor in the Lagos office from 2010 to 2013. Linda provided support towards the implementation of community development and CSR projects in the Niger-Delta and South-West Nigeria. These projects were sponsored by international donor agencies and members of the oil and gas sector. Her duties included proposal writing, reporting feedback liaising with multilateral donors and corporate sponsors in Lagos and Abuja, project implementation and monitoring. She has written proposals and co-implemented projects for the EU, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Refugee Action UK, Oando Foundation to name a few.
Linda worked as a research assistant for the think tank ‘Centre for African Policy and Peace Strategy’, CAPPS (now called CAPPS Consult) where she conducted a study on Return and Cyclical Migration issues of Nigerian nationals living in the UK. Results of the study were published by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) UK. She also worked for the Chris Ogunbanjo Foundation where she collaborated with UN Information Centre UNIC to train youth in Basic IT skills and inculcate as sense of social awareness. She also interned at Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, in the African Division in her final year of her BA programme.
Linda attended Corona School Victoria Island and later attended The British School of Lome where she received most of her primary school education. She attended Atlantic Hall Secondary School Ikeja, Lagos (now located in Epe, Lagos State). Her professional interests include the attainment of Socio-economic and Political development for Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora and the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility/Social Impact Investment Initiatives.
She also has a keen interest in the performing arts (specifically music and theatre) and sings with the ‘Board Members Entertainment Band’ in her spare time.
Linda has a BA in International Studies with a minor in French from American University, Washington DC. She also has a Masters in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London and is currently enrolled in an online PhD in Public Policy and Administration at Walden University, Minnesota, USA. She is a member of the American Society for Public Administrators (ASPA).

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• SOCIAL ENTERPRISE PART 2 - March 30, 2016