'Profitability is sustainability': 17 ideas on business and development

The challenge to business

Adapt your models for poor countries: The role of the private sector goes beyond bolt-on philanthropic activities, it can be embedded in everyday business. This demands different business models. In GSK’s case, developing medicines and vaccines and making sure they are accessible is the contribution we can make. We have switched our focus to growing volumes in the poorest countries and capped our prices there, helping to strengthen healthcare systems and generate long-term, inclusive development. Allan Pamba, vice president for East Africa, GSK, Nairobi, Kenya @GSK

Recognise it’s in your interest to act: Said Salim Bakhresa & Co. (SSB), an east African flour mill, launched its malaria control initiative (as part of a broader PPP) in 2008 when an internal study revealed that one in five employees were suffering monthly from malaria. The company initiated a malaria treatment and prevention programme to educate and protect its 6,000 workers. It distributed nets, made rapid diagnostic tests and medicine available in its clinics, and updated its malaria protocols. As a result, SSB has cut its malaria-related treatment costs by two-thirds. Malaria-related absences dropped by 80%. David Kyne, CEO, Kyne, New York, United States @dkyne

Wealthy individuals from the global south must play their part: With the growth of high net-worth individuals in developing countries, there needs to be a shift in culture that promotes and involves local philanthropy. Supporting civil society is a potential area where local philanthropy would change the dynamic between governments and CSOs who, when funded by foreign funder,s are often perceived as driving a foreign agenda. Sipho Moyo, Africa executive director, One @Sipho_ONEAfrica

The challenge to government

Recognise the informal sector: Governments often say that the contribution the private sector makes to development is the creation of jobs. But the question is what type of jobs and for whom? Focusing on creating decent jobs is a key policy intervention here. Also, how will they tackle the informal sector which is there to stay? We need to recognise this area of the economy and respond to its challenges. Sarah Montgomery, economic justice policy analyst, Cafod, London, UK @SarahMonty1

Involve small and medium-sized businesses: Given that most people are employed in MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) in developing countries, we need a much more comprehensive approach to the role of private sector in development. Instead of looking only to multinational enterprises, governments need to actively look for ways to support thriving domestic markets and the local private sector. Foreign direct investment isn’t enough and we know from countless examples around the world that there are weak links to poverty reduction. Sarah Montgomery

Hold business to account: As the private sector has been hailed as a key provider of funds for the global development agenda, the language on accountability and monitoring has grown increasingly weaker. Holding big business to account on the following would solve half of our development problems: tax evasion; the use of exploitative trade and investment agreements to flout government’s ability to regulate policies in favour of development objectives; the use strong intellectual property rights to block access to technology. Ranja Sengupta, senior researcher, Third World Network, New Delhi, India

Never concede sovereign leadership and ownership: The private sector can help deliver some projects under the government’s overall policy umbrella. Business can help with data collection and measurement - for example we could consider using telecommunication companies for data gathering. The challenge for developing countries is that aid is not enough, so if we can find ways to incentivise the private sector to be a true partner in solving these issues and make them see value in poor people as potential and future customers, they might be on the same page as us who are committed to the development process. Amir Dossal, chair, Global Partnerships Forum, New York, USA @AmirDossal

The challenge to civil society

Let partnerships start: Partnerships existed in western societies, South Korea and other high growth countries when governance was not so good, and when there were democratic deficiencies, low transparency situations and so on. I don’t think we should say that you need governance before you can build trust and partnership. That will take forever. The question is how do we build partnerships now? Matt Andrews, associate professor, Harvard Kennedy school, Durban, South Africa @governwell

Ask hard questions: The role of the private sector in both the Financing for Development outcome document and the post-2015 development agenda has been a critical issue for civil society organisations. We must continue to ask the unanswered questions: 1. Why will the corporate sector abandon its quest for profit and “donate” development funds? 2. If they were not attracted to under developed sectors in developing countries before, why will they be interested now? 3. Will their involvement work if done on a voluntary CSR basis? 4. If we have to get the private sector interested, we have to show them the profit; who pays for it and how will come in? Ranja Sengupta

How to make partnerships work

See the vision of what could be: ‘Mutual accountability partnerships’ call for a new way of doing business, with new rules, new expectations, and a culture of integrity and mutual respect – but these come with incredible gains. Shared and joint commitments by partners from governments, civil society, and the private sector can inspire faster and bolder action, can garner enhanced citizen and media attention, and can contribute to the mobilisation of resources from internal and external sources. Sharing best practices, innovation, leveraging of new markets, and the application of new technologies can also be stimulated by these collaborative and committed-based approaches. Paul Zeitz, senior adviser, US Department of State, Washington, DC @paulzeitz

Define roles: Let’s not talk public and private, as it is obviously more complex than that. Rather ask: what would global public organisations like the UN and World Bank do in this partnership? What about regional public organisations? National and local public organisations? On the private side, what is the role of western private companies and what of local African companies? And then there is the third sector. We need to broaden the discussion and define roles so we can be precise about responsibilities. Matt Andrews

Let the private sector do what it does best: If we want corporations to be able to deliver these social goods in a sustainable manner, they need to profitable. Profitability is sustainability, aid is temporary. The 2 + 2 = 5 happens when the private sector is tapped to utilise our full compliment of assets - technologies, people, expertise, innovation capability – not just money - to help make development dollars go further. Tara Nathan, executive director for international development, MasterCard, Purchase, New York @MasterCardNews

Be wary of usurping the role of government: A long time ago, structural adjustment programmes imposed changes in economic policy without approval from sitting legislatures and other bodies chosen by the population. We have to be careful that just because money is being offered that we do not short-circuit political accountability on the part of national leaders. Manuel F Montes, senior adviser, finance and development, South Centre, Geneva, Switzerland @South_Centre

Support country ownership: The Gavi model encourages country ownership, and the Vaccine Alliance invites countries to propose their own solutions for improving the ability of health systems to deliver vaccines where and to the extent they are needed. This can range from funding healthcare training to providing support for sophisticated mobile telephone networks that monitor stocks. DJ Forza, private sector partnerships, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, Geneva, Switzerland @DeejForza

Focus on core competencies: There are a lot of different ways we can engage with the private sector that is less about big investment and more about building up people’s skills. The Coca Cola Last Mile project is a good example. It is a PPP leveraging private sector expertise in supply chain management to get medical supplies ‘the last mile’ to the remotest communities. This is what Coke knows how to do very well - you can find coke anywhere in the world, whether that is a good thing or not! Charles Mwangi Waituru, regional post-2015 adviser for Africa, VSO International, Nairobi, Kenya @mwangiwaituru

Invest in monitoring and evaluation: We need to ensure that it is possible to measure the impacts of public private partnerships accurately in a way that will allow us to understand their contribution to development. These transparency measures have to be thought through carefully and incorporated into the agreements on which public-private-partnerships are based. Sarah Montgomery

Know it all comes down to building trust: From the outset, successful partnerships need to be built on transparency of roles, transparency of motivations, strong governance and accountability. Trust can begin to develop from here. David Kyne

Read the full Q&A here.

Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow@GuardianGDP on Twitter.