The practice of Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, by Cameroon and many other African countries is still very timid. CSR is still more of a moral than a legal obligation. Reason why a Non-Governmental Organisation, ‘Go Ahead Africa,’ organised the Second National Forum on CSR and Volunteerism to share best practices with organisations. During the three-day forum that brought together 100 organisations, the Chairman of ‘Go Ahead Africa,’ Roland Kwemain, insisted that the ultimate goal is to have sustainable organisations, communities and environment.

“The first goal of a company is to make profit, while the population and customers only come second. Thus, company managers should ask themselves the following questions: How sustainable is the environment they operate in? How healthy are the people in their communities? What are the inhabitants’ challenges and together with them, draw up strategies to be integrated into the global strategy of their companies,” he emphasised.

Since there can never be a sustainable community when the population lacks basic facilities like good hospitals, potable water, schools, good roads and electricity, companies must have a strategic plan in terms of CSR in order to leave a sustainable environment for future generations. Globally, the state of the environment is becoming a serious threat; reason why world leaders are meeting in Paris, France for the 21st Session of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change, dubbed COP 21, to mitigate the effects.

Roland Kwemain emphasised that even when one is not the cause of climate change impact, they should be proud to be part of the solution. The erstwhile President of Junior Chambers International, who has travelled to over 70 countries preaching the virtues of sustainable environment, plans to award prizes to organisations with best environmental practices in the near future.