Tagbo Agbazue of AICC, South Africa
Tagbo Agbazue promotes corporate social responsibility in South Africa. "Problems in the area of human rights prevalent in the country include discrimination, bad working conditions, problems with land, environmental problems and abuses by for example security forces. I see a huge role for the private sector that, if they can run their businesses in a socially responsible way, can push the development of African countries."
The organization that Tagbo works for, the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC), started, together with Aim for Human Rights, a project to inform companies about the importance of human rights. Tagbo is the coordinator of this project since 2006, in which NGOs, companies and government agencies cooperate for the first time on the issue of human rights and business in the country.
Driving force
"What drives me to do this work is the will to improve the situation on my continent. Human rights shouldn't be seen in a narrow definition, but as the key to the development as a whole of a community. Therefore it is very important for business to ensure that human rights issues are properly mainstreamed as part of core business strategy."
Tagbo is proud of the first national conference on human rights and businesses, that the network organized in March 2008 in South Africa. "For the first time this issue was discussed at national level by key stakeholders from government, business and civil society."
Background
Tagbo, originally a lawyer from Nigeria, lives in South Africa since 2001. He works as an advisor on Corporate Governance for major private and public sector corporations in Africa, inter-governmental organizations such as the Worldbank and the UN, regional initiatives on Corporate Governance, as well as for the governments of South Africa, Mozambique and Cameroon. He is a recipient of the 2008 “Millstein Rising Star of Corporate Governance Award” by Yale University’s Millstein Centre for Corporate Governance and Performance.
