ABSTRACT
The National Business Initiative (NBI) is a voluntary group of leading national and multinational companies, working together towards sustainable growth and development in South Africa through partnerships, practical programmes and policy engagement. The NBI has evolved to keep business at the forefront of the public-policy dialogue and practical implementation of efforts to promote socioeconomic development, good governance and increasingly more sustainable, inclusive and green models of growth. Two of the largest contributions from the NBI during the first years of its existence came from activities imported directly from the Urban Foundation (UF). There are: education policy and housing delivery. The NBI's method of operation was to add value to the contributions of its small staff by involving its member companies in collective initiatives within the key intervention areas. The chapter provides examples that illustrate how the approach of collective business action was implemented in practice in education, housing, local economic development and support for public governance.
