The Green Room

Working together in Africa

By Leslie Dach on February 1, 2012 Leave a comment

On Saturday, I was in Davos, Switzerland, and had the chance to sit down with NGOs, academics and leaders from around the world to talk about sustainable growth and development in Africa.

Walmart is a global business, and we are now in Sub-Saharan Africa where we recently invested in the retailer Massmart. We are committed to being good citizens in the region, and this is something we care deeply about: business, government and societymust work together to support progress on the continent.

So on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Walmart brought together leaders of organizations working to solve many of the pressing sustainability issues and social problems in Africa. In doing so, we hope to apply what we’ve learned in other markets and to build on the good work already being done by Massmart.

Leslie Dach with Linda Lorimar and Rick Levin of Yale. Photo credit: Joanne Lipman.

The CEO of Walmart International, Doug McMillon, and I had a candid exchange with these leaders about what they’re seeing and what they’re working on – and where Walmart can make the biggest difference. The participants identified issues such as food waste, water security, energy security, property rights of women, healthcare and HIV, and helping small farmers gain access to markets.

Photo: Doug McMillon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart International, Wal-Mart Stores, USA addresses the audience during the session ‘The Global Growth Context’ at the Annual Meeting 2012 of the World Economic Forum at the congress centre in Davos, Switzerland, January 25, 2012. © World Economic Forum / Moritz Hager.

In addition to pressing societal needs, we must also address how we as a business can use our size and scale to grow the economy. How can we best source local products, create jobs in our stores, and work with local farmers in a way that promotes development on the continent?

This was a listening session and there is much more to come. In May, Doug will co-chair the World Economic Forum on Africa in Ethiopia.

The conversation, and the work, continues.

Click here to watch an interview with CEO Doug McMillon.