The business of saving lives in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - a social imperative? Insights from “The Global Soap Project”
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy
ISSN: 1750-6204
Article publication date: 8 August 2016
Abstract
Purpose
Using a single case study of The Global Soap Project, a social enterprise founded by an African Immigrant resident in the USA, this study aims to explore and posit how lives could be saved in Sub-Saharan Africa and especially so in light of the Ebola pandemic ravaging swathes of West African communities.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative study interrogates both the identity of a diasporic social entrepreneur in an attempt to develop a framework that links this concept to community entrepreneurship using a single case study.
Findings
With hindsight, The Global Soap Project has much to offer in terms of “saving lives” in these communities, as the battle against the Ebola virus calls for containment measures.
Research limitations/implications
While arguably limited in terms of being a single case, this study furthers the understanding on the role of social entrepreneurship in complementing community efforts and coping strategies for tackling pandemics such as the Ebola virus.
Social implications
Evidently, while vaccines are being fast-tracked, the spread of the virus can be curtailed through personal hygiene, and the project illustrates how an individual social enterprise can be leveraged at the community level.
Originality/value
The study provides avenues for future research enquiry into how single cases might be transformed into multiple cases, both within and across sectors, for the benefit of humanity in general and affected communities in particular.
Keywords
Citation
Madichie, N.O. (2016), "The business of saving lives in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - a social imperative? Insights from “The Global Soap Project”", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 321-342. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-11-2014-0025
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited