Several governments across the globe, including the Government of Rwanda, have announced numerous policies and initiatives geared at addressing the challenges and impact of Covid-19.

While measures adopted by the Government to contain the further spread of the virus appeared extremely effective in all dimensions; the so-called new wave of the virus has continued to wreak havoc, eventually leading the Government to announce a second lockdown and restricting of non-essential movements in the City of Kigali, whilst imposing a strict ban on inter-district movements.

That notwithstanding, the increased number of new positive cases might not only be attributed to a potential laxity as individuals were celebrating in the festive season; but also, the number of people being tested per day has since increased attributed to random screening campaign at the grassroots level, sample tests collected in schools countrywide, among others.

In playing our role of helping government to protect us, we as the citizenry should own all the guidelines and do it for fear of running roughshod with enforcers.

That aside, while the fight against further spread of the pandemic endures, the impact that it is leaving behind – hoping that it will be finally halted or vaccines rolled out – is huge. No one appears to be spared in this crisis - you could be knowing someone who has lost life, been diagnosed, or living in the shadow of what is yet to come due to this pandemic.

This calls for a sense of responsibility and civic-minded; by not only offering prayers, advice and guidelines – as I believe professional accountants have continued to provide expert advice to their various stakeholders including their clients specifically small and medium entities as they are more vulnerable to such shocks – but also going beyond that to include the provision of some financial and essential needs support to complement Government efforts.

There are several ways to do this starting from your immediate neighbour whom you believe needs that support is quite fundamental. For organizations alike, it's part and parcel of your social contract.  

The new global realities including the pandemic itself, have already tested organizational leadership in various aspects including social tensions, inequality, effective corporate governance, technological advancements among many others.

With the apparent disruptions in industries and business model mostly fuelled by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies, not mentioning the omnipresent social media platforms that have accelerated the need for radical transparency; it is quite a fundamental proof that organizations need to reinvent themselves including accountants.  

To reinvent themselves in this sense would mean that as an organization that operates in the triple context of the economy, society and the environment, it will important for it to incorporate all the six capitals: financial; manufactured; human; intellectual; natural and social; and relationship capital – as set out in the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC) Integrated Reporting Framework - into their business models.

Creating value in a sustainable manner would therefore require organizations’ to not only concentrate on the bottom line – which used to be profits – but also meet other stakeholder needs’ including the general society as they are strongly believed to be the licensors of an organization.

It would be inappropriate for an organization to forget about its other social responsibility and operational legitimacy. Certainly, this is equally underpinned by UN Sustainable Development Goals and Africa Union Agenda 2063.

Assessing what organizations are doing in regard to the wider society and the environment in which they operate, powered by the move to the new integrated thinking approach should go beyond inputs and outputs of an organization’s strategy to include their outcomes. If an organization’s products or service outcomes are in conflict with what the society expects, a negative impact on value creation would be expected which is again inconsistent with good corporate citizenship, thereby resulting in an organization’s reputation risk.

Inclusive capitalism

To achieve the required sustainable value creation as depicted in the current corporate world, there is need for a shift from the financial capitalism to inclusive capitalism – a model that considers the employment, transformation and provision of all the six capitals as an engine for shared prosperity. Just concentrating on financial capital alone, only represents a small portion of what an organization does.

To put this into perspective, what some individuals and organizations recently did in terms of providing financial support and other essential items to the most vulnerable residents either through Private Sector Federation (PSF) or directly to help them cope with the economic consequences of Covid-19, may contribute to inclusive capitalism as it is envisaged to positively impact on the society, thereby directly contributing to the improvement of their livelihood.

If individuals and organizations continue to do the same, the registered improvement may in turn constructively affect contributors’ prospects. It is therefore important for organizations to develop a shared vision that could be demonstrated through their respective actions, and collective commitment to sustainable inclusive long-term success.

For individuals and organisations alike, please continue with the good spirit as your actions are contributing to sustainable value creation. Most important to note is that the entire economy usually suffers if businesses stop investing in the future.

The writer is the Director, Professional Development Services – ICPAR