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| Looking to a brighter future for Africa |
Business in Africa should respond to Aids by fighting it at the workplace
Paris, 6 December 2001 -- Companies should make the fight against the HIV/Aids panedemic a core business issue because the disease threatens the bottom line, a conference on investment and humanitarian challenges in Africa was told today.
The plea for greater business involvement came from speakers representing the UN, humanitarian agencies - and business itself - during a debate on the Aids pandemic, which is hitting African countries more than any other part of the world.
Georgia Franklin, Director of Public Affairs of MTV Networks international, said: "Every community destroyed by Aids is home to the employees and customers who make business possible."
Ms Franklin, who is also Chair of the Global Business Council on HIV/Aids, added: "Aids causes absenteeism, demands caring, finding replacements and training them, causes low employee morale and directly affects production."
The one-day conference on Building Cooperation in Africa was called by the International Chamber of Commerce and the Business Humanitarian Forum to debate the role of business in post-conflict situations, business cooperation with refugee organizations, and business investment in reconstruction.
Dr Jeya Wilson
, Chief Executive of the Durban Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said the business response to Aids had been ostrich-like - but now a wake-up call was needed. Durban is the capital of KwaZulu Natal, the South African province with the highest rate of Aids infection.
"At first, companies did not consider that fighting Aids was one of their core activities," she added. "But now they are beginning to realize the implications."
She said that companies had mistakenly regarded the pandemic is a human resources problem and not a business concern. The reaction was to move from labour-intensive to capital-intensive activities, and to minimize hirings from high-risk groups. "With 45% unemployment, that is the last thing we need," Dr. Wilson added.