1. EU - Africa Business Forum in Brussels
Barbara Sadowska
Co-Chair, Barka Foundation
Member of INISE
The Business Forum on building bridges between European Union and Africa in terms of
social and economic development took place on 31 March – 1 April 2014 in Brussels.
Among the participants were representatives of companies, corporations, banks based in
the EU and Africa, and representatives of the European Commission, Parliament,
government ministers of European and African countries, international organizations and
institutions. However, missing was the presence of social enterprise representatives.
Throughout the forum, only one workshop was devoted to social entrepreneurship. This
means that the concept of social entrepreneurship’s development in Africa is not yet
sufficiently appreciated by the international community, including the European Union. It
was pointed out that only the private sector creates jobs. Omitted were, however, the social
enterprises, self-help groups, associations and CBOs which are already developing in Africa
and provide dignified work opportunities being co-owned by African individuals and
communities.
Formulated were the following challenges for Africa:
• Strengthening processes of democratization, ethical exploitation of natural resources,
influencing the banking system in order for it to better serve the sustainable
development and inclusive growth in Africa;
• Development of infrastructure (roads, wells, toilets and sanitation, electricity,
schools, food processing, agricultural and forest infrastructure, etc. ), investing in
agriculture and tourism;
• Education and vocational training to better prepare African nationals to become
employees of Western companies that are developing in Africa;
• Gradual reduction of informal employment ( 80-90 % of the African population works
in the informal market, mainly in agriculture. However for 4 shillings GDP - only 1
shilling comes from agriculture ) ;
• Efforts to eliminate the challenge of social exclusion and the spread of HIV / AIDS as
well as food insecurity in Africa (each minute a child dies in Africa; in Kenya 10 million
population live without food security );
• Major problems faced by the African communities are a long-term consequence of a
very difficult history of colonization of Africa by Europeans, insufficient experience of
democracy, conflicts related to the extraction of natural resources, corruption,
unresolved issues of land ownership , etc.

2. Workshop on social entrepreneurship :
Workshop participants emphasized the need to develop a more social economy in Africa,
mainly at the level of local communities and not governments ( however, necessary is an
appropriate legislation). The democratization of social and economic life in Africa requires
integration of local communities and representatives of the socio-economic life around the
idea of forming social enterprises which, by nature, are pro-employment, of integrating
character, bestowing property upon its members and not sharing profit between
themselves. Profit is invested in the development of local community.
At the workshop presented were experiences of the Barka Foundation of Poland, which had
implemented the approach in 100 local communities in last 25 years. In 1989, the founders
of the Barka Foundation established a rehabilitation community and lived there with a group
of people, who during the transformation period in Poland, found themselves in extremely
difficult life situations, many lost their jobs and accommodation, often became homeless
and, in the process, became alcohol dependant. The Barka Foundation had been developing
social enterprises rooted in the community and based on the model of cooperation with
partners in local market. This prompted the process of re- restoration of dignity , skills, and
professional competences of individuals and communities . These examples had a major
impact on creation of a new legal system in Poland. The legislation provides a framework for
developing vocational reintegration centers for social inclusion as well as social cooperatives
, public benefit companies and other economic forms of entities ran by associations and
foundations.
The work of Barka resulted in creation of 150 Vocational Centers for Social Integration and
700 social cooperatives in Poland.
Interested in those activities became African diasporas in the UK and Belgium.
African citizens based in the EU have not always found their place here and their potential is
often untapped. They live in Europe longing for their homeland and caring for those who
stayed behind . The African Diaspora found the Barka approach valuable for development of
their communities . In a joint dialogue, the Diaspora drew their attention to the history of
partitions in Poland and compared it to the process colonization of African countries. The
historical similarities and, in some sense, the mental resemblance, formed the foundation
for creating a joint organization called ‘INISE’(International Network of Innovative Social
Entrepreneurship). INISE consists of 14 institutions: eight European entities and six African
entities. These organizations took joint initiatives and works for development of a more
socialized economy, locally rooted in several African countries .

3. Conclusions from the Forum in the context of Barka’s experiences
1. One needs to consider possibilities for a wider access of African citizens to private
ownership. Currently, in the mainstream economy, private ownership is defined as
an individual ownership of the means of production (tools, machines, buildings)
which belong to a specific owner. For centuries the owner contrasted with " labor "
or employees (mercenaries). Workers put their powers at the disposal of a group of
entrepreneurs who, following ‘the highest profit’ principle, attempted to establish a
minimum wage for the work performed by the workers. Colonization of African
Continent is based on these mechanisms and, in some ways, this process continues.
Putting in practice the idea of "social economy" requires a broadened access to
property through introduction of various forms of co-ownership of the production’s
means, eg. in a cooperative owned by a group of people or by using various forms of
shareholders’ and employees’ participation in the boards of companies as well as
their share in the profits of the company.
2. Gain: a key differentiator of the social economy is that is treats profit not only as a
means to enrich and enlarge capital, but also as an instrument to achieve common
development goals. This is a challenge relating primarily to the many businesses and
corporations investing in Africa. If real change is to take place of the existing social
inequality in Africa and a greater socialization of the means of production, one has to
embrace with an ethical view the up-till-now division of profit generated by
enterprises . The purpose of business cannot be solely profit-maximalisation, nor
profit can be the sole regulator of the company’s life cycle. People working in an
enterprise ought to create a community that not only generates economic benefits,
but also has the ability to raise the level of moral and intellectual capacity. This
ultimately promotes a wider social development .
3. Another aspect that needs to be discussed more is the concept of economic freedom
. During the Forum questions were raised, especially by representatives of the African
Union, whether it was alright to exploit wildlife and natural resources in Africa, cut
down forests and pollute rivers for the purpose of profit and without consequences?
Is it alright to fire, without any commitment, 50 % of the employees just because the
gain of individual shareholders and owners could be reduced ? Can company owners
be exempt from responsibility for empowerment of local communities in which the
company is located ? In the accepted paradigm of mainstream economy, the
economic freedom, unfortunately, usually means freedom 'from' taking ethical
obligations towards the community. Meanwhile, the implementation of the strategy
of socialization of the economy in Africa, requires a different understanding of
freedom , ie. combining freedom with responsibility. Freedom without responsibility
is a contradiction of itself.

4. 4. Taking into account the new understanding of private ownership, profit sharing and
the role of entrepreneurship in creating jobs, a prospective thinking about the
development of a more socialized economy in Africa should evolve towards bridging
the gap between companies aimed at profit (for-profit), and organizations that are
not profit-oriented (not-for-profit), so that in African communities grows an
intermediate area between the two types of companies (not-only-for-profit).
Creation of self-governing local communities for social entrepreneurship should be
strengthened. This will gradually lead to introduction of decent working conditions,
freedom, justice, security and co-ownership;
5. It is important to include in the work on the social economy development in Africa,
the new Member States of the EU, their role and potential coming from the history of
young democracies, as well as the role of the African Diaspora in Europe. The
Diaspora fulfils the role of building bridges, trust and setting recommendations for
joint initiatives in Africa.