Integrating corporate social responsibility as an infrastructural projects financing option in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This article examines the infrastructural projects that were delivered through corporate social responsibility (CSR) by private organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria, with a view to providing information on the projects’ distribution that could help the development of a CSR policy guide. A mixed method research approach with structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews was adopted. The questionnaire was administered to 27 representatives of private organisations identified through the Respondents-Driven Sampling (RDS) technique. Nine of these representatives were selected using convenience/accidental sampling technique for the interviews. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results show that private organisations’ participation in the delivery of infrastructural projects as CSR improved in the study area from 2010. It was noted that 85.7% of the total identified deliverable projects delivered by the private organisations were executed between 2010 and 2019. These projects include, among others, blocks of classroom; provision of pipe-borne water; landscaping and beautification; renovations of old health facilities; construction of library facilities; Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres, and health facilities. The study indicates that private sector organisations are well disposed to undertake infrastructural projects as part of their CSR and thus provide categorical information suitable for policy formulation to enhance the integration of CSR into infrastructure development programmes. The study contributes to the concept of corporate social responsibility as a different financing alternative for the delivery of infrastructural projects. The study is limited to CSR-based infrastructural projects by private organisations for public institutions; the respondents are private-sector stakeholders.