Corporate Social Responsibility in Ghana: A Sectoral Analysis

Abstract

CSR as the strategic decision of an organisation to voluntary act upon the social factors that have the potential of militating against the fulfilment of corporate goals is a fast evolving concept in Ghana, led by large scale multinational companies. The concept has been “bastardised” in the country with various sectors of the economy having a different interpretation to it. It is common to read daily in the news print various activities which are classified as part of the social responsibilities of various organisations. The lack of uniformity in the definition/description of the concept is worrying and therefore calls for a baseline understanding of the concept as practiced by different sectors of the Ghanaian economy. This work therefore adopts a sectoral approach to the classification and understanding of the concept. A documentation review, specifically, a thematic analysis of various newspaper reports, website information on CSR undertakings of companies and previous literature of CSR activities undertaken by various organisations from 2007 to 2015 formed the framework and methodological approach for the study. The various organisations were classified based on their main operations and based on the CSR activities undertaken. Notable amongst the findings were the following; Organisations in the mining industry were more into community relations, curative and preventive health issues and environmental protection activities. The telecommunication sector was into health related activities, education and infrastructure development. The banks were into donating to the underprivileged and offering scholarships to needy but brilliant students and also involved in refurbishing school buildings and financing adult literacy programmes. The manufacturing sector on the other hand support education and health related activities and sometimes lend extension services to producers of their raw materials. The CSR activities of the agriculture sector are geared towards the betterment of the lives of farmers who supply produce to them and the development of farming communities in which they operate. For religious bodies’ especially Christians and Muslims, the concept of CSR has been one of charity. This is because of the belief that God blesses those who give especially to the needy and the underprivileged such as orphans, the sick and the poor. Generally in Ghana, the concept has tended to focus on externalities to the neglect of the internal issues that bother on employee well-being.