Samuel Uzo
Department of Philosophy
Pope John Paul II Seminary Awka.
Abstract
A critical evaluation of modern business trends in Africa portrays some spate of
paradox in her socioeconomic development. There is a rapid increase of international
corporations yet there is less accountability; there are lots of industrial and
infrastructural developments yet there are eloquent cases of unemployment. Local
companies transform into multinational corporations yet there is a clear absence of
fundamental business ethic on which the indigenous morality that constitutes integral
human development is rooted. While shareholder groups and government institutions
take capricious interests in businesses, the human community and even the non-human
environment are left in tatters. While the media advertises businesses in all intents and
purposes, questions of moral values of individuals and companies and/or individuals in
company are relegated to the background. Or why has the intervention of the
government in businesses not contributed to the common good, which is regarded as
the greatest good? Why have indigenous businesses not benefitted from foreign
policies? Why has globalization not created the possibility for businesses to be
simultaneously cross-cultural and more sensitive to cultural differences? Why do some
inhuman phenomena such as racism, injustice, oppression, slavery, gender inequality;
rear their ugly heads in modern multicultural business corporations? While modernity
presents us with a future filled with hope in the business world, a sojourn to “Ubuntu”,
an African traditional philosophy of social existence is essential. The finding of this
paper supports the thesis that integral human development remains an ethical ideal in
an ever dynamic business corporation in Africa. The paper argues that African
socioeconomic development is achievable only if “Ubuntu” constitute the ethic of
businesses in most African countries.
- Introduction
A well administered business organization sets a nation on the pathway to
development. This is because the socio-economic hub of a nation is, in all intents and
purposes, dependent on the way businesses both, public and private sector, have
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contributed to a nation’s GDP. At various levels, the question of how best to administer
a business has occupied the mind of various scholars over the years. Various
approaches have been adopted as a reliable panacea to the problems encountered by
business corporations. Most prominent among those approaches is the stakeholder
approach. A significant aspect of business ethics over the years is the protection of
stakeholders. The absence of stakeholders in a given business organization sets such
business on the path to underdevelopment. It suffices to know that Africa’s socioeconomic development is basically dependent on the extent to which partnership is
established and enhanced among business corporations. Thus, there must be a business
ethic that provides the moral imperative necessary for sustainable development of
African economic institutions. But, it is no gainsaying that African socioeconomic
development is still a mirage even in an era of the ‘big idea’-NEPAD. NEPAD, that is,
New Partnership for African Development has been argued to be “an opening for
resources flows, both aid and trade-related, and an attempt to re-envision development
partnership on the basis of good governance within Africa” (Waal, 2002:464). Being
sensitive to the high rate of poverty, conflict, insecurity, unemployment, low level of
capitalization, and even the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, NEPAD aims
to achieve the overall 7 per cent annual growth necessary for Africa to meet one of the
Millenium Development Goals which is to half poverty. Yet, it is an inexplicable
paradox that in the face of this ‘big idea, and in the midst of rich and endowed countries
in the African continent, Africans are the poorest of the poor. To be sure, despite
Botswana’s strong economic growth which has sustained the world’s highest real GDP
growth and GDP per capita growth rates over the last 35 years (Leith, 2001), it is riddled
with poverty whereby 47 per cent of her citizens live below poverty line. One of the
reasons given for this is unequal distribution of resources. In recent times, Nigeria is
encompassed by a deteriorating security situation which has a gruesome effect in
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businesses. From endemic rural and urban poverty to high rate of unemployment; from
debilitating youth unemployment to low industrial output; from unstable and
deteriorating exchange to high inflation rate; from inadequate physical and social
infrastructure to very large domestic debt and rising stock of external debt. (Ewetan,
2013). The near implication of this is a weak economic institutions and distressed
corporate organizations. These poor socioeconomic conditions, more often than not,
attract the intervention of multinational institutions, aid agencies, foreign governments,
international NGOs and international donors. These institutions are essentially colonial
in character and orientation. The terms and conditions by which they partner with
Africa are apparently un-African and unequal. They play the piper and determine the
tune while the Africans are subjected to mere spectatorship in a business partnership
which is meant to be mutual. One can easily suspect a crisis of socioeconomic
development as none of these foreign business agencies have come up with a lasting
solution to the African economic predicament. By and large, a moral dilemma creeps in:
Should Africa depend on a foreign business ethic or rely on her indigenous sociocultural moral framework?
It is on this basis that we adopt ‘Ubuntu’ as a business ethic that could salvage Africa
from socio-economic underdevelopment. But, we shall first critically assess the
relationship between business ethics and socio-economic development. It is in
discovering the shortcomings of business ethics as not meeting the demands of most
business corporations in Africa, that we shall propose ‘Ubuntu’ as a moral framework
in understanding business activities in and with Africa.
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34 - Business Ethics and Socio-Economic Development in Africa
Central to the dynamism and vitality of marketing institutions in Africa is a business
ethic which serves as a stepping stone to a nation’s socioeconomic development. The
concept of business ethics connotes an ethic in business as the business of ethics and
also the fact that business in ethics entails applied ethics in which emphasis is laid on
business ethics activities in the business world. Ethics, when applied to the business
world is set to address the following questions:
What endeavors of business people, companies and business associations
have been undertaken? Setting up and dissemination of codes of conduct?
Ethics training programmes? Position of ethics officers or the like? Public
statements and publications of business leaders? Legislations? Are, and if
so how are, domestic and foreign companies evaluated from an ethical
point of view? By consumers, workers, investors and other groups and
organizations? And so on.
These questions which business ethics sets out to address are geared towards the
development of a business organization in particular and the economic development of
a nation in general.
For a business to develop means that it seeks to include in its development goals some
moral values that regulate human behaviour in such business environment. To this
extent, business ethics has been defined as “the application of theories of right and
wrong to activity within and between commercial enterprises, and between commercial
enterprises and their broader environment. Its concern includes: The safety of working
practices; the fairness of recruitment; the transparency of financial accounting; the
promptness of payments to suppliers; the degree of permissible aggression between
competitors; relations between businesses and consumers, local communities, national
governments and ecosystem.
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Etymol-analytically, the term ‘business ethics’ constitutes two words: ‘business’ and
‘ethics’. But, the semantic function of ‘business’ is to describe ethics as applied to the
business world in which business decisions are adjudged right or wrong. Ethics is
derived from the Greek word ethos which means custom or habitual way of acting.
Similarly, the Latin expression mos; moris, from which we derive the word moral, is
attributed to this understanding of ethics. Hence, ethics is the branch of philosophy that
studies the morality of human actions, that is, the way humans ought to behave, the
norms of conduct to which human actions ought to conform. (Omoregbe, 1979:4). Thus,
it is also conceived as moral judgments, standards and rules of human conduct, with an
emphasis on the determination of what is right and wrong (Artur, 2018:2). When
applied to business organizations, the idea of business ethics comes to play.
Business ethics can be traced back to antiquity in the writings of Plato and Aristotle
extending to the modern philosophical reflections of Karl Marx and John Rawls. To be
sure, the Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that “traditional philosophers such as Plato,
Aristotle, Aquinas, and Kant discuss issues of the right and wrong in economic activity.
They sometimes examine specific business ethics puzzles, including the ethics of the
profit motive, just price in trade, usury in lending, and ethics in negotiation.”
(Donaldson, 2005). From this, it can be implied that business ethics suggests the study
of the ethical dimensions of organizational activity on the systematic, organizational
and intra-organizational levels. (Rossouw, 2010a). Moreover, business ethics focuses
basically on what is good and right in a particular economic activity, where an
organization engages in a moral analysis and assessment of such economic activities
(Smith, 1790).
Business ethics can be understood in two senses: Narrow and Broad. In a narrow sense,
business ethics is understood as ‘corporate ethics’ as applicable to business
organizations. (Berenbeim, 1987). But, in the broad sense, business ethics covers the
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socio-economic aspect of life. Here, “business ethics deals with the individual decisionmaking of economic actors (such as managers and employees), the shaping and conduct
of economic organizations, business-related public policies, economic systems; and
global economic and financial institutions. In this paper, the broad sense of business
ethics is relevant. - Existing Frameworks of Business Ethics
Given that this study is aimed at proposing Ubuntu as a business ethic for Africa’s
socio-economic development, it is important to highlight existing frameworks of
Business Ethics such as Classical Marxian Approach, Globalization, Ethical decisionmaking, Utilitarian Approach, Sternbergian Approach and Aristotelian Virtue Theory.
As we progress in discussing these frameworks, we shall show their shortcomings
which will then pave the way for an African socio-cultural framework: Ubuntu.
3.1. Classical Marxism
Classical Marxism is attributed to Karl Marx. It claims that specific forms of human
agency (social labour and relations of production) and social structure (the forces and
relations of production) have explanatory primacy in shaping the constitution and
dynamics of social systems (Sean Creaven, 2000:1). It proposes that whatever we have
as a socioeconomic system in general or business organization in particular stems from
the dialectical interplay between human agency and social structure. Here, society is
viewed as constituting the basic structures of inorganic matter to the higher strata of
mind, self and society. The ontological status of each of these levels is understood by
“its possession of discrete autonomous causal properties and conditional effects, and
each arises once a given complexity of interaction at an anterior or underlying level of
organization is reached.” (Ibid.1). This suggests a dialectical materialism in which a
given social organization reaches its full realization to the extent to which it creates a
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balance between material needs and personal needs. In short, one’s personal needs are
attained as soon as one’s material needs are addressed. This is because due attention is
given to the balance of powers inherent in both socio-economic realities. While the
human infrastructure is enamored and enhanced by fulfilling the individual’s basic
needs such as food, shelter, clothing, security and employment, the material needs are,
to a large extent, met. Moreover, the in-tendency towards these basic needs shapes the
perception and behaviour of the individual and even determines socio-economic and
particular business policies.
This classical Marxist approach ultimately promises some spate of holism in which
“individuals are inserted involuntarily into patterned and enduring social relationships
which exist independently of their will, which shape their actions and consciousness in
determinate ways, and which offers resistance even to concerted collective efforts to
alter or transform them” (Creaven, S. Ibid.).
3.2. Globalization
Economic policy makers, business managers and multinational corporations have
unconsciously modeled their economic principles along the path of globalization. Here,
globalization is considered to be a framework for upon which the economic destinies of
nations rest. This is because as the linkages and interconnections of nation-states
intensify owing to the process of modernization and technological progress in this era
of globalization, the economic goals of individual nation-states homogenize and
crystallize into a moral corpus that will serve self-same global interest.
In explaining the phenomenon of globalization, McGrew notes, “The multiplicity of
linkages and interconnections that transcend the nation-state (and by implication the
societies) which make up the modern world system. It defines a process through which
events, decisions and activities in one part of the world can come to have significant
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consequences for individuals and communities in quite distant parts of the globe”
(McGrew, 1992:13-14). According to IMF, globalization means more integrated goods,
services and capital markets. And, for Igho Natufe (2001:1), globalization is “the free
movement of capital, goods and services across national boundaries.”
However, situating Africa in the globalized economy portrays Africa as still basking in
underdevelopment even in the globalization process. Being aware of this, Igbafen avers:
Notable in the global space is the fact that the dominant nations of the
world have technological, commercial capital resources and socio-political
dominance over the dependent countries of Africa, Following from this, it
is obvious that the developed countries set the rules in the world political
economy structure that has been well planned and directed by
transnational bodies. This advantage has essentially made it possible for
dominant countries of the West to impose conditions of exploitation and
extract part of the domestically produced surplus. (Igbafen, 2004:296).
So, although globalization enables freedom of various economies of the world, yet some
economies are free but everywhere in chains. Here, one meets a paradox; a transition
from global age to global cage! It is my view that the notion of liberalization of
economies; an immediate or remote implication of globalization which involves
allowing certain individuals to determine market prices, demands and supply of
commodities, will lead to sundry forms of capitalism, global injustice, exploitation and
economic imperialism. Some oil rich nations like Nigeria will produce yet bask in
poverty. I wish to note immediately that Nigeria needs to reformulate its economic
policies and philosophies to suit the poor masses and encourage what can be referred to
as “democratic economy” not economic democracy. The former means that the people
have the right to determine prices of commodities based on their immediate
predicament with the aim of putting an end to poverty. The latter is largely political
whereby the economic leaders based on their professionalism adopts a policy that they
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consider suitable for the people. Here, one expects cases of ethnicity, religious
sentiments, less accountability, arbitrary increments, class conflict and even gender
politics to play out.
3.3. Ethical Decision-making approach
The ethical decision making approach claims that businesses thrive based on actions
and decisions taken by the company which stresses the importance of accountability;
the dauntless necessity of the force of moral principle governing large international
corporations. The importance of the ethical decision making approach is that “the
corporate ethics through which business organization conducts their affairs had
considerable economic and social consequences.” (Cadbury, 2002:11). This approach is
conscious of the fact that given the internationalization of businesses, there tend to be
less accountability. Business is “spread across the world and no longer rooted in a
single community that can be held responsible by its singular jurisdiction.” Thus,
Cadbury views that “in a localized business there were very strong local pressures,
providing feedback, more or less, on the actions and decisions taken by the company”.
Ethical decision-making is therefore essential for the growth of a particular business.
According to Sternberg,
failure to recognize and properly address ethical problems can lead to
very substantial charges, both legal and financial; being unethical can cost
a business its very life. Many of the most dramatic business failures and
the most significant business losses of the last decade were the result of
unethical conduct: consider the fates of Barings and BCCI, Polly Peck and
the Robert Maxwell group. Normally, ‘bad ethics is bad business’: the
short term gains which may be won by unethical conduct seldom pay in
the end.
But, it does not mean that an ethical conduct necessarily leads to a successful business.
There are cases where acting ethically has led to business losses. A bambara nut cake
(okpa) trader who mixes various other condiments like flour (which is unethical) to
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increase the quantity of the cake will of course have more customers than the honest
trader who just bakes the bambara nut cake without any additives. The latter tends to
lose more customers than the former. There are many such examples in the Nigerian
market and business centers. Taking a moral decision is usually uncomfortable to some
business people especially in an era of high competition in businesses.
Moreover, the ethical decision-making approach falls under the weight of its argument.
If accountability is a moral principle that businesses must adopt, then the plausibility of
accountability in large international corporations is questionable. How can one
ascertain the accountability of the “ten largest corporations of the world that have about
4.3 million employees”?
Cadbury offers another reason for the failure of the ethical decision-making approach as
“the occurrence of diverse interests shown by shareholder groups and by government
themselves, in ethical and environmental issues.” Cadbury notes an example of the
passing of the Foreign and Corrupt Practice Act in the United States. This is an instance
of government intervention on private businesses; a novel development in the business
world. Cadbury concludes that “such intervention raises the problem for governments
of trying to define limits on conduct, of settling what is acceptable and what is not
acceptable, in a world where transactions are moving faster and becoming more
complex all the time. It is very difficult for them to keep up.” (Cadbury, 2002:10)
3.4. Sternbergian Approach
Sternberg’s approach begins with a critique of the very idea of business ethics. She
believes that there is no such thing as business ethics; that business ethics is either
theoretically or impossible in practice. To justify this position, she asserts:
Sometimes, of course, that criticism is wholly justified. [Thus if] ‘business
ethics’ is taken to denote a separate business ethic, a set of ethical rules
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that apply exclusively in business and nowhere else, then there is indeed
no such thing. Equally, most of the sanctimonious criticisms of business
that pass as business ethics fully deserve to be dismissed. But that is
because much of what masquerades as business ethics is nothing of the
sort, having little to do with either business or with ethics.
She then goes on to propose a model which is built on her analysis of the nature
of business. It consists of 5 steps:
The first step is simply to identify what is actually being asked by determining
who is asking? What has prompted the issue? What precisely is at stake? Who
will be affected by the outcome? What sort of decision or action might be called
for? Who is responsible for taking, implementing, reviewing the decision? And
so on.
The second step entails determining whether it actually is a problem for the
business. This involves three shades of inquiry: Is the issue relevant to business?
Is it relevant to this business? And is it a problem for this business?
The third step is to identify the constraints which may limit solutions. Sternberg
notes that business decisions are constrained not only by law and regulation, but
also by contractual, cultural, economic, physical and technical considerations.
The fourth step is to see how alternative solutions measure up against the three
key conditions of maximizing long-term owner value and respecting distributive
justice and ordinary decency. This, according to Sternberg, is a straightforward
business calculation because it takes into consideration all the potential costs and
consequences including that which are distant, delayed and indirect.
The fifth and concluding step Sternberg gives is identifying the right course of
action for the business.
Sternberg’s approach is clearly contradictory. At first, she believes there is no
such thing as business ethics yet she goes on to propose theses for a successful
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business ethics which in themselves constitute the core of business ethics.
Moreover, her theses have been found to lack flexibility and universal validity
such that the possibility of their standing the test of time is quite slim.
3.5. Aristotelian Virtue Approach
One important focus of virtue ethicists is the desirability of one’s character traits rather
than one’s personality trait. Virtue ethicists provide a list of virtues such as; courage,
temperance, wisdom and justice. Virtue ethics has gained popular expression in the
Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle and (much later) Elizabeth Anscombe’s Modern Moral
Philosophy published in 1958.
In particular, the Aristotelian Virtue approach shows a connection between his concept
of virtue (arête) and happiness (eudaimonia). Here, virtue is viewed as a necessary (but
not sufficient) condition of attaining a fulfilled life. For one to be fulfilled, one must
always exhibit excellent character traits. These traits are what Aristotle understands as
virtue. However, in eudaimonia, one seems to have attained a fulfilled life as a result of
having achieved one’s full potential (Aristotle: X, 7, 1177a11). Now, one’s skill or virtue
(arête) is needed for one to achieve one’s full potential. In the Ethics, Aristotle
distinguished between two kinds of virtue namely, moral virtue and intellectual virtue.
For Aristotle, moral virtue was the balance between two vices calculated by the Golden
Mean. According to Hughes (2001:10), “some belong to one’s moral character (for
example, courage, or generosity), and others to one’s skill at thinking (such as being
good at planning, or quick to grasp the point of something).” Of course, the latter refers
to intellectual virtue.
The Aristotelian virtue ethics is relevant to the business world especially in terms of a
statement of business values or code of conducts which involves complying with rules,
regulations and general principles. In business organizations, virtues are construed as
values established prohibiting behaviours that will give a bad reputation for the
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business organization. To this extent, it places a check on individual character traits of
employees, stakeholders, suppliers, consumers and the general management of the
business organization.
A fundamental problem with this approach is that it is self-centered and/or one-sided in
the sense that the codes of conduct are written based on the personal principles of the
CEO, executives and other key stakeholders of the business. This gives room for
arbitrariness in making business decisions and moral absolutism in determining the
structure, content, development and application of the business ethics. Moreover, the
self-centeredness of this approach tends to create a room for privatization policies
which have been the focus of neoliberal economies. Their neo-liberalization economic
policies include: free market system, privatization, globalization, deregulation, austerity
and reduction of government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector
in the economy and society. (Goldstein, 2011:30). These policies are appealing when
viewed at the face level but they are ultimately rooted in the Western imperialistic
agenda. This approach, at the long run, would lead to market fundamentalism,
inequality, imperialism and political opposition. Scholars such as Amartya Sen, Noam
Chomsky and Pope Francis I have strongly criticized neo-liberalism.
But, one problem with the aforementioned frameworks is that they engender economic
policies that give room to economic superiorization whereby the logic of development
of the wealthy is regarded as superior and acceptable at the detriment of the middle
class and lower class. By and large, the rich get richer and the poor poorer. This can be
found in some South American countries like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico as well as
some European and Asian countries.
It is based on the shortcomings of the above existing frameworks and the need to situate
African socio-economic reality on the path of positive development that I propose
Ubuntu; an African socio-ethical framework for the development of business
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corporations. It is my argument that if Ubuntu determines the socio-economic policies of
business corporations in Africa, it will not only unify the activities of African business
corporations but will address the concrete problems of hunger, poverty,
unemployment, insecurity, disease, high mortality rate and ethnic and religious crises.
What is Ubuntu?
At first I shall attempt an etymological analysis. Ubuntu is derived from two Nguni
(isiZulu) words ubu (action or capacity) and ntu (being). Hence, it is a unique and
unifying capacity of being in which being is dynamic rather than static. Here, some
form of action is implied but this action is positive, dialogical and persistent. This
means that in the process of being, action is necessary in order to stir or trigger action in
another being. This announces the reality of a being that is characterized with otherness
because others are essential in the actualization of (one’s) being. This actualization is a
continuation of the preeminence of being. The preeminence of being is that through the
activities of the human person the true meaning of being is realized. Hence, Ubuntu is
linked to the Nguni aphorism: Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu, which can be translated as
“a person is a person because of or through others” (Moloketi, 2009; Tutu, 2004).
According to Ramose, “….ubuntu in most African languages is a gerundive, a verbal
noun denoting a particular state of being and becoming at the same time. It thus
denotes a particular action already performed an enduring action or state of be-ing and
the openness to yet another action or state of be-ing.” (1992:792) Thus, Ubuntu can be
described as the capacity in an African culture to express compassion, reciprocity,
dignity, humanity and mutuality in the interests of building and maintaining
communities with justice and mutual caring (Khoza, 2006; Luhabe, 2002; Mandela, 2006;
Tutu, 1999). It is basically a humanistic philosophy which represents an African
conception of the human being, and his/her relationship with the community that
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embodies the ethics that define Africans and their social behaviours (Mbigi and Maree,
2005). It is to this extent an African philosophy of social existence from which sociomoral values are derived. In fact, Ubuntu is an ethical framework which aids the
understanding of individuals at every level of society. Hence, it takes into
consideration the complementarity inherent in the African life and being expressed in
their constant dialogical relationships and social arrangement. Through this expression
“we should also recognize that the forces of life manifest themselves in an infinite
variety of content and form.”(Ramose, 752). This means that the traditional African
does not think independently. His/her thinking is characterized with manifold
‘aboutness’. Hence,
Africans are social beings that are in constant communion with one
another; where a human being is regarded as a human being only through
his or her relationships to other human beings. Therefore, the survival of a
human being is dependent on other people, such as the community and
society. Within an African environment, socio-cultural underpinnings are
rigorously applied and the African Umunthu or Ubuntu (humanness)
philosophies are omnipresent throughout the continent.
Therefore, the Ubuntu socio-cultural dimensions are applied and considered critical in
any organization operating in Africa (Lutz, 2009; Mangaliso, 2001; Mbigi and Maree,
2005). The Ubuntu ethical framework thus takes into consideration that “Africa has its
own unique socio-cultural settings, which have a direct impact on people-centered
systems encompassing leadership, employee welfare, extended family systems, caring
and sharing, and corporate governance. Thus, the socio-cultural diversity premised on
the use of Western management systems would pose a great challenge within an Africabased organization.” (Khomba & Vermaac, 2012:3511).
Deriving its socio-economic orientation from the works of African scholars such as
Leopold Senghor, Amilcar Cabral and Julius Nyerere, Ubuntu proposes an unbiased
ethical paradigm that is not only concerned with African socio-economic wellbeing but
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also extends to other regions of the world. In fact, “the [African] village is meant to be
part of a virtuous circle of ever increasing exchanges between city and country; between
industry and agriculture.” (Saul, 2013:205). Here, Ubuntu envisions a global economic
institution in which every individual is a stakeholder. This is because it is an “ethics of
interrelationships, situated in a communitarian social fabric of caring and sharing,
ubuntu may equal, and even exceed, socialist notions of a ‘radical egalitarianism’
(Cornell 2009; Cornell & Van Marle 2015).
From the foregoing, it is clear that adopting Ubuntu as a business ethic will help bridge
the gap between the affluent and the poor; the shareholder and non-shareholding
stakeholder; the elite and the common man; the developed and the underdeveloped;
western individualism and African communalism. It will create a business corporation
with a human face in which being takes precedence to having. This is because the
wellbeing of the human person is considered to be central to any profitable business
activity. With this, the growing consensus of private property (Caromba, 2014),
capitalist relation (Van Norren, 2014) and pervasive inequality (Cornell &Van Marle,
2015), is brought to a halt while sundry economic predicaments like food insecurity,
hunger, unemployment, disease, high mortality rate and inflation are adequately
managed.
Conclusion
In this essay, I discovered that the thriving western business ethical frameworks are
anti-African socio-economic development paradigms which have enveloped Africans
and the African business corporations in utter stagnancy and economic regression. I
think this must have influenced the founding of African Development Bank and various
Afrocentric business institutions which supposedly incorporates the traditional socioeconomic values. Although enamoured and coloured by modernity and the
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superhighway technologies of the Western order, Ubuntu is found to instill an
afrocentric business consciousness in business managers, stakeholders, shareholders,
producers and even political leaders who are bent on a revivalist mission of their
economy. What is business without love for the other; care for the wellbeing of the
other; hospitality of the consumer? Should I enrich myself at the detriment of the
customer or should I structure my business in such a way that both producer and
consumer will benefit? Ubuntu will not only affect our socio-economic value but also
our socio-economic psyche which will largely transform our behaviour within and
without the business world.
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