by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – SYSTEMS Applications Products (SAP), the enterprise application software firm, estimates it could direct up to US$60 million of its addressable global spend per year to social enterprises and diverse suppliers by 2025.
The figure is based on early pilots in select markets.
The German-headquartered firm disclosed its plans as it encouraged organisations around the world to buy more goods and services from purposeful suppliers making a positive collective impact on the societies they operate in.
This is through the launch of the 5 & 5 by ’25, a corporate initiative targeting five per cent of addressable spend with social enterprises and with diverse businesses by 2025.
The 5 & 5 by ’25 initiative has been announced at SAP’s Procurement Reimagined event in Singapore.
The World Bank indicates that global procurement spend in 2019 was at least US$14 trillion.
Thus, by directing a small fraction of this spend to certified social enterprises and diverse businesses, organisations have the power to tackle some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems.
Among DAX companies, this figure is estimated at approximately EUR 2,5 billion, and across US Fortune 500 companies up to $25 billion.
DAX is a German stock market index comprising the 30 biggest companies – by market capitalisation and liquidity.
“Every company in every industry needs to procure,” Adaire Fox-Martin, SAP Executive Board member for Customer Success, said.
“We all need soap in our washrooms, landscaping for our offices, food and drink in our cafeterias, marketing services and office supplies,” Fox-Martin, recently appointed Global Buy Social Ambassador for Social Enterprise UK, added.
The official noted those and many more were products and services provided by social enterprises and diverse businesses.
“This is money we are spending anyway. Why not spend it with suppliers who are delivering social impact as well?” Fox-Martin quipped.
Social enterprises are businesses culturally and operationally focused on changing the world.
– CAJ News