Profit for Purpose, or purpose for profit?
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Sustainability Summit 2026 organized by CFO East Africa.
Irene Njogu
3 min read
One question has lingered in my mind ever since:
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭?
As the conversations unfolded, it became clear that perhaps the real opportunity lies in bringing the two together.
One statement particularly resonated with me:
"𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘊𝘚𝘙 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘌𝘚𝘎 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥."
As ESG continues to move from a compliance exercise to a strategic business priority, finance leaders have a critical role to play in building resilient, future-ready organizations.
Sustainable value creation can no longer be viewed as separate from financial performance.
The role of leadership is to ensure the two reinforce one another through disciplined capital allocation, sound governance, responsible risk management, and a long-term perspective.
For me, the summit reinforced an important truth: 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬.
Organizations that create lasting value are those that align both, creating positive outcomes for shareholders, employees, customers, communities, and the environment.
My biggest takeaway?
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.
Best.Energy | KC Rottok Chesaina, CA(SA) MCom (Wits)
