SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED Annual Report 2022
OUR PERFORMANCE
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SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED
Annual report 2022
29
Our SEE impact
At Standard Bank Namibia,
we believe in people.
We believe that all Namibians
irrespective of their social and economic
status are deserving of dignity and
access to food, water, education and
quality healthcare.
We are privileged to run a successful business, one of the
country's oldest, for over 100 years. We therefore take pride in
our ability to use our resources to give back to the community
and support the very people who make our success possible.
Without people we are nothing. Our future is dependent on the
future of the people in the communities in which we make a
meaningful impact. We therefore want to ensure that the future is
bright for us all.
Our approach to SEE
Our approach to our social, economic and environmental (SEE)
initiatives is to ensure they are an integral part of our
involvement in our communities, engaging with compassion by
serving to make a meaningful difference.
Our investment in ensuring positive SEE impact is
predominantly through our corporate social responsibility which
represents a serious commitment to socioeconomic upliftment
through various projects and initiatives that we support.
Through our corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives,
Standard Bank aims to create meaningful and lasting benefit for
the communities we serve and for our business.
In addition, contributing to the improvement of the
socioeconomic circumstances of the communities in which we
operate also contributes positively to the morale of our people,
enhances our corporate reputation and demonstrates our local
relevance and responsiveness to social and economic
imperatives.
Our approach to CSI
The impact we have is central to how
we do business. Our CSI strategy has
been repurposed to ensure that it
aligns to our strategic direction and
contributes to the development of
communities in our target market,
with a clear focus on specific areas
where we have an opportunity to
make a meaningful impact.
Our CSI strategy is overseen by the board's
corporate social investment subcommittee, which
reports directly to the SBN Holdings board of
directors (board). The subcommittee is ultimately
accountable for ensuring that our CSI strategy
and initiatives positively impact on our reputation
and the Standard Bank brand.
Read more about its mandate in the
corporate governance report.
Our CSI policy sets out our CSI principles,
governance structures, roles and responsibilities,
reporting requirements, and the prevention and
management of conflicts of interest. It clearly
defines what constitutes CSI expenditure and
differentiates this from sponsorships. Additionally,
the policy requires that our CSI initiatives have an
impact across all regions in Namibia.
We commit 1% of our net profit after tax to the
CSI initiatives we have identified as focus areas of
our SEE strategy. This is four times the Namibian
Financial Sector Charter requirement. CSI
expenditure is approved by the board corporate
social investment subcommittee.
Our impact areas of
focus for SBN Holdings
SEE investment
Selecting social partners
We proactively identify programmes that provide
opportunities for us to positively contribute to addressing
key social and business development issues rather than
respond to requests for charitable donations.
We aim to form long-term funding partnerships with government and local
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who have clearly defined programmes
that provide maximum positive impact in communities.
When selecting social partners,
the following criteria is considered
Projects must
result in
meaningful
socioeconomic
development
and community
wellness or
upliftment
Funding must be
directed at
historically
disadvantaged
communities or
incumbents
Projects should
align to the
Namibian
Government's
priorities and
national
objectives, as
far as possible
Programmes
should
preferably
provide a
platform for
increased
employee
involvement
We only consider registered charitable organisations. When a request is
received that is in line with our CSI policy and objectives, a site visit is
conducted and due diligence is undertaken prior to recommending the
project to the working CSI committee and board subcommittee.
When a project is approved, a contract is entered into with the beneficiary
organisation and payments are made once project implementation starts.
The project is monitored through biannual beneficiary reports which include
a detailed breakdown of how funds have been spent and the impact
achieved. All projects are reviewed annually to ensure that they are achieving
their intended objective. On completion of the project, the close-out process
includes a project evaluation.
Our commitment
to CSI
The wellbeing of our
communities are at the
heart of what we do as
a bank.
This is demonstrated in the
various projects that Standard
Bank has undertaken over the
years, serving many
communities across the length
and breadth of the country.
Over time, our efforts have
evolved from simply making
donations to ensuring that our
support directly benefits and
positively impacts the
communities in which we
operate in a meaningful way.
Being involved in our
communities is ingrained in the
Standard Bank DNA and shows
in the type of projects we have
supported over many years.
The causes and programmes
we support are broad and wide
ranging, touching many
aspects of community life,
including empowering women
and girls, covering the medial
costs of under privileged
children, supporting charities
that work with children and
enterprise development.
A significant part of the SBN
Holdings CSI outreach is driven
by our employees who take a
day in the year to touch the
lives of people through
donations and sponsoring food
and other needed materials.
EDUCATION
HEALTH
COMMUNITY
UPLIFTMENTView entire presentation