African businesses face a persistent contradiction. Social challenges such as skills shortages, water insecurity, youth unemployment and weak governance continue to constrain commercial growth, yet many organisations still treat these issues as the responsibility of philanthropy rather than core business strategy. Shared Value Africa challenges that separation, arguing that companies can generate stronger returns by addressing the social problems connected to their markets, operations and long-term resilience.
As the exclusive regional partner of the global Shared Value Initiative, founded by Harvard strategists Michael Porter and Mark Kramer, Shared Value Africa has spent close to a decade advancing this approach across the continent. The organisation has a presence in 12 countries, with operating offices in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Its central question is increasingly relevant to African executives: how can businesses create measurable social value while strengthening competitiveness and commercial performance.
At the centre of this work is Founder and Chief Executive Officer Tiekie Barnard, who has championed the advancement of Shared Value across Africa and co-developed the first Harvard-aligned Shared Value executive training course designed specifically for African markets. Research and evidence have become an important part of Barnard’s work, reflecting her belief that Africa must increasingly generate the knowledge, insights and business thinking that shape its own economic future.
That ambition has expanded into competitiveness. Together with Dr Amit Kapoor of Shared Value India and the Institute for Competitiveness India, Barnard established the Institute for Competitiveness Africa, creating a platform to advance African research and thinking on competitiveness, productivity and sustainable economic growth. The initiative reflects a broader philosophy within Shared Value Africa: global knowledge remains valuable, but Africa must strengthen its own institutions and intellectual capability to develop solutions grounded in the realities of its markets.
Building an institution capable of advancing this agenda across the continent also requires a new generation of African leadership. Managing Director Andrews Akoto-Addo represents that next generation. In addition to his role as Managing Director of Shared Value Ghana, he leads new business development for Shared Value Africa.. With a background in the entrepreneurship sector, Akoto-Addo brings a particular passion for entrepreneurs and the role that growing African businesses can play in employment, innovation and economic development.
Gender equality forms another core part of the institution’s economic agenda. Joy Uworo has led the Shared Value Africa Gender Equality Unit full-time since its establishment in March 2024. The Unit approaches gender equality not simply as a question of representation, but as a business, governance and economic issue. Its work focuses on strengthening private-sector action on gender equality and gender-based violence and moving organisations from commitments towards practical and measurable change.
Together, the leadership team reflects the areas in which Shared Value Africa believes greater African capability must be built: competitive businesses, entrepreneurship, research and African-generated knowledge, gender equality and stronger institutions. This work is supported by the organisation’s expanding network of country chapters, strategic partnerships and young African leaders, allowing continental thinking to be translated into locally relevant action.
As Africa confronts unemployment, inequality, climate risk and growing pressure on institutions, Shared Value Africa’s challenge is no longer simply to advocate for purpose-led business. It is to demonstrate how businesses can address societal challenges through their core strategies while remaining competitive and profitable. Its evolving leadership reflects that next phase: building an African institution capable of generating knowledge, developing leaders and turning Shared Value from an idea into measurable economic and societal value.
