Etisalat Group is a telecoms corporation from the United Arab Emirates, headquartered in Abu Dhabi. With revenues amounting to AED 51.7 billion (US$14 billion), it operates in 17 countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

As part of its sustainability and social responsibility strategy, Etisalat has developed a company policy of developing relationships with multiple local stakeholders in the various countries where it operates, referred to as ‘stakeholder engagement. As part of its engagement, the group considers itself to be the ‘national champion for the UAE and … a quasi-government. As such, it pursues a series of philanthropic activities worldwide, in conjunction with the UAE’s Ministry of International Co-operation. It intervenes in the domain of education, health, charities, and civic infrastructure works. The table that follows gives a sample of these activities, performed directly or in partnership with Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organization created by the Emirati government to improve children’s access to quality primary education in developing countries.

 

 

In financing these philanthropic activities, and in choosing which ones to support, does a global corporation run the risk of being seen as a substitute for the local government? If so, what are the potential drawbacks to this?

EDUCATION Donation of laptop computers to schools Financing of fully equipped libraries Sri Lanka Financing of schools infrastructure Financing of teacher training program lin association with the British Co Nigeria * vory Coast Scholarships School renovation * Atghanistan Financing of computer labs in schoals Educational assistance for adults