CIFOR-Cameroon: a case study of Chinese corporate social responsibility

 

 

 

NAIROBI, Kenya—When a continent as forest rich as Africa becomes the target of direct foreign investment – no matter what the origin – what are the risks and negative impacts on communities, agriculture and forestry?

 

This question is considered at the micro-level in a new study, from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

 

The study examines the evolution of corporate social responsibility through the changes of ownership of Hevecam, a rubber company located on Cameroon’s Atlantic coast near the southern town of Kribi.

 

Through studying just one company – which evolved from state owned, to foreign owned, to majority Chinese owned – the study’s authors evaluated whether Chinese companies have a lower sense of social and environmental accountability than other investors.

“Our research shows the situation is much more nuanced and complex than the sometimes untested, negative views about Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa would indicate,” says Samuel Assembe-Mvondo a CIFOR scientist based in Cameroon, and lead author of the study.

 

ONE COMPANY, SEVERAL PROBLEMS

Hevecam was created in 1975 as a state-owned Cameroonian company, with funding from the World Bank and technical assistance from the French Rivaud Group.

 

Two decades later it was sold to Singapore’s Golden Millennium Group (GMG).

Then in 2008 the Chinese state-owned company Sinochem bought 90 percent of GMG’s shares, with the Cameroonian state holding the remainder.

 

So was there a marked difference in attitude between state-owned and private, Chinese and non-Chinese management of the same company?

“Sinochem is a newcomer to Cameroon and its record of corporate social responsibility is relatively unknown,” says CIFOR’s Louis Putzel, another author of the study.

“But one thing that is sure is that the current owners have inherited a number of unresolved problems that go back many years. The degree to which they are able to resolve those problems will be a real test of their ability to implement policies to satisfy the needs of their workers and local communities while protecting the natural environment.”

 

For more Information, please check: HERE

Go back

CBFP News

WWF: Rainforest deforestation more than doubled under cover of coronavirus -DW

Tropical rainforests shrank by 6,500 square kilometers in March — an area seven times the size of Berlin. Criminal groups are taking advantage of the pandemic and the unemployed are getting desperate, the WWF said.

Read more …

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park Monthly update April 2020

"At a time when many countries are beginning their gradual deconfinement and when there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon of returning to normal life, I wanted to share with you some good news that also fills us with hope for the future of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park."

Read more …

Resources and follow-up from the virtual FAO-EcoAgriculture Partners Roundtable

Last April 30th FAO and EcoAgriculture Partners organized a virtual Roundtable on Territorial Perspectives for Development, in which over 170 people participated.

Read more …

ATIBT -CBFP: Private Sector mobilized around the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany

ATIBT co-facilitated the mobilization of the private sector of the timber sector to participate in the first meeting of the private sector college of Congo Basin Forest Partnership with the new facilitator Dr Christian Ruck and his team German Facilitation.

Read more …

Development and institutionalization of a PAFC certification system for the Congo basin: opening of the second public consultation on Sustainable Forest Management Certification Standard, 23 May 2020 - 22 June 2020

This second public consultation will be open for a period of 30 days from tomorrow Saturday the 23rd of May 2020 and will be closed on Monday the 22nd of June 2020. The public consultation is open to all stakeholders of forest management in the Congo Basin interested in participating to the PAFC Congo Basin certification standards development process.

Read more …

Forest defenders on the COVID-19 frontline stand ready to assist the global EU response – Fern

These efforts go hand in hand with ensuring continued responsible management of natural resources and preventing unsustainably and illegally sourced forest commodities. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, forest-monitoring organisations Observatoire de la Gouvernance Forestière (OGF) and Réseau des observateurs indépendants des ressources naturelles (RENOI) are set to carry out COVID awareness-raising in at-risk forest areas, and will also assess COVID’s impact on forest management and governance commitments under the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). Across the Congo Basin, fears that a proper lack of oversight may put forests and forest peoples in danger are looming despite emerging initiatives.

Read more …

22 May 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity

The theme of the 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity is “Our Solutions are in Nature”. It shows that "Biodiversity remains the answer to a number of sustainable development challenges that we all face. From nature-based solutions to climate, to food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity remains the basis for a sustainable future."

Read more …

CBFP News Archive

2024

There are no news items for this period.