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The present chapter offers a preliminary exploration of the CSR issues
being addressed and reported by five commercial banks in Tanzania. These issues
are illustrated through an examination of how CSR is operationalized within the
commercial banking industry within Tanzania. The commercial banking industry is
chosen for review because its operations affect all aspects of the country’s economy
and citizenship. Moreover, the regulatory and reporting requirements of commercial banking allow for ample documentation that can be reviewed to assess the
industry’s approach to CSR.
Like most countries in Africa, Tanzania faces number of environmental and
social challenges. These include, but are not limited to, land degradation, climate
change, over exploitation of natural resources (e.g. over fishing and mining), illegal
timber harvesting and poor access to social services such as education, health
services and utilities. Given this situation, commercial banks play a key role in
protecting the interests of the community, especially in distributing financial
support to various programmes which sustain the environment, communities and
their populace.
Content analysis of the banks’ annual reports is presented and discussed. Particular attention is given to mission and values statements, board composition, social
and philanthropic activities and compliance monitoring. The chapter concludes
with a discussion of the policy, strategy and research implication of the findings. |
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