Ebook: The Business of Social and Environmental Innovation: New Frontiers in Africa

In the face of limited progress toward meeting Millennium Development Goals or addressing climate change and resource degradation, increasing attention turns to harnessing the entrepreneurial, innovative, managerial and financial capacities of business for improved social and environmental outcomes. A more proactive role for business in sustainable development is especially pertinent in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been plagued by conflict and poverty but shows signs of a brighter future as the world’s second-fastest-growing region.

The book considers how the socio-economic context influences the objectives of social innovation and even our definition of what we mean by social innovation. Secondly, the book aims to show how social innovation initiatives emerge and fare in context of the limited ability of many African countries to provide public goods and services.

In the face of limited progress toward addressing poverty and resource degradation, increasing attention has been paid to harnessing the entrepreneurial, innovative, managerial and financial capacities of business for improved social and environmental outcomes. A more proactive role for business in sustainable development is especially pertinent in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been plagued by conflict and poverty but shows signs of a brighter future as the world’s second-fastest-growing region.

This book contributes to the growing body of scholarly work on social and environmental innovation with the two-fold aim of studying the role of business in creating such innovation and focusing the analysis to the African context. To cover the various terrains of social and environmental innovation, this book contains novel empirical cases looking at social or environmental enterprises, social intrapreneurship and innovation in incumbent businesses, and social innovation through cross-sector collaboration. The final part of the book focuses on the implications for academics, exploring the role of universities and business schools in social innovation.