Corporate social investment: collaboration is key

Addressing Imbalances

As a state-owned development finance institution under the supervision of the Economic Development Department, the IDC’s mandate is to promote economic growth and industrial development in South Africa and the rest of the continent. In supporting initiatives across all nine provinces, our corporate social investment (CSI) bias is towards rural areas and our key focus areas are education, sustainable livelihoods and special interventions.

Education is vital for the social and economic wellbeing of any country, and most of our CSI budget allocation supports initiatives in this sector. Guided by the Basic Education and Skills Development Accords signed at Nedlac (National Economic Development and Labour Council) in 2011, our aim is to make CSI education a more holistic and interlinked programme, while developing and sharing lessons of leading practice.

With this in mind, our efforts are geared towards basic education, including whole school development for 18 selected schools; of capacity development for the learning and teaching maths, science and technology subjects and skills development. The global financial crisis has forced many people to review micro- or survivalist enterprises and their positive effect on poverty eradication. The corporation’s CSI initiatives support innovative models for grassroots projects that serve to sustain individual livelihoods through income-generating projects.

Our Special Interventions programme deals with unexpected events that require humanitarian intercession, as with disasters such as floods, fires and drought. It also supports initiatives of strategic value to the IDC that aren’t covered by these sectors.

In addition, the IDC’s Employee Volunteering programme centres on supporting our organisation’s reputation among staff while aiding the development of South Africa’s communities. Two programmes form the core of this programme:

• I Do Care is an employee voluntary giving fund. Employees voluntarily contribute part of their salary towards charitable causes. The corporation matches employee contributions. Employees are given the opportunity each year to nominate charities of their choice as beneficiaries.
• Habitat for Humanity is a built housing programme in which employees volunteer one day to build houses. The programme is run in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, an international campaign, and takes place annually.

IDC flagship projects include the Nguni Project, an independently run initiative in partnership with provincial departments of agriculture, rural development and selected universities; and the promotion of arts and crafts through a gallery at our head office in Sandton, Johannesburg, where artists and crafters from disadvantaged backgrounds are given exhibition space for their work.

The IDC is fully committed to collaboration and implementing projects with the private, public and non-profit sectors; acting as a catalyst for upliftment; and focusing on the most marginalised areas and members of society. While we do not accept unsolicited requests from the public, we actively identify initiatives in line with our mandate and our belief in people-centred sustainable development.