It has been challenging for businesses to identify relevant stakeholders for corporate social res... more It has been challenging for businesses to identify relevant stakeholders for corporate social responsibility. This article assesses how current laws in Tanzania identify stakeholders and whether such identification aligns with international frameworks. The article adopted doctrinal research to critically examine the structure, certainty, and scope of laws in identifying relevant stakeholders. Then, the article comparatively analysed the laws of Tanzania and their alignment with international frameworks. It is found that current laws identify government actors, employees and potential victims of business activities as relevant stakeholders based on the impact and inclusive bases. However, such identification falls short of international standards because it is narrow-based, government-centric, ambiguous, and lacks a requirement for regular review and updating. Consequently, other relevant stakeholders, including consumers and local communities, are often excluded from corporate social responsibility, ultimately diminishing their role in promoting responsible business practices for sustainable development in Tanzania.
Despite growing awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is no consensus on its ... more Despite growing awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is no consensus on its definition. This paper investigates whether a standardised definition of CSR is necessary for its legal enforcement in Tanzania. The paper employed doctrinal legal research to examine the CSR legal framework and identify challenges that a standardised definition of CSR can resolve. The findings highlight that while the meaning of CSR is not in dispute, the definition of CSR remains a subject of debate, ultimately contributing to poor CSR practices in Tanzania. Moreover, the existing CSR legal framework in Tanzania has significant challenges, and having a standardised definition is a key step towards addressing them. Although the paper finds that a standardised definition of CSR is not a complete panacea for challenges in performing CSR obligations, it does contribute to implementing CSR goals.
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Papers by Eliud Kitime