MBA students of Lagos Business School (LBS) are leaving nothing to chance in promoting entrepreneurial investments that create social impact and add value. To showcase the business ideas of the MBA students – which had social impact embedded – to the investors present, the LBS MBA Entrepreneurship Investor Forum took place today at LBS.
The forum is a new initiative which has been introduced as part of an entrepreneurship course, to nurture the ideals of making a social impact while making profit in a business. The event also aims to make the MBA students bridge the gap between economic growth and lagging social development through profitable businesses that solve social problems.
Dr Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, LBS Faculty, Academic Director (Owner-Manager Programme) and Impact Investing Project Director, welcomed all present and gave an overview of the objectives of the forum. “At this forum, the MBA students will be showcasing and promoting businesses that solve social problems in a profitable way; reconciling the world of profit-making and the world of social impact” she said. To butress the need for businesses to incorporate social impact into their business models, she said: “In an impoverished society, the priviledged few are endangered species. LBS is developing responsible leaders and entrepreneurs to grow businesses that are not only profitable but have social impact.”
Judges at the forum, for the first time, were past MBA students who were equipped with the knowledge of doing sustainable business and now run successful businesses that have social impact. Other participants at the forum commended the business ideas of the students. “I think LBS has done a commendable job with the students,” quipped Mr Richmond Okafor, CEO, Digiplus. “I’m confident that they’ll make a huge success of the business initiatives they’ve presented.”
Impact Investing is the use of for-profit investments to address social and environmental problems. Unlike corporate social responsibility (CSR), where a portion of profit/resources are used to ‘give back’ in an effort to create social impact, Impact Investing creates social impact in the course of doing business.
