To demonstrate its commitment to best practice in business, Delta Corporation has taken the positive step of promoting business ethics among future leaders from an early age.

As such, Delta is one of the strongest supporters of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE), an international network of university students initiated in the United States of America in 2000.

A non-profit organisation, SIFE operates in Zimbabwe under the purview of a relatively new phenomenon called BOOST, which brings together students from across the world with the aim of creating economic opportunities for individuals in their home countries, to share learning experiences.

The acronym BOOST stands for “Building Opportunities on Student Talent”.  The SIFE/BOOST Zimbabwe National Programme was made official in November 2003 and the basic philosophy is premised upon the principle that there are opportunities that must be tapped even in adversity. The programme seeks to enable students to see the possibilities rather than the problems of life – and exploit the opportunities that then arise.

SIFE/BOOST has been a success in Zimbabwe and has grown in leaps and bounds.  From an initial four universities at introduction, it now operates at eight university campuses around Zimbabwe.  Students who have taken part in international competitions have come out with flying colours.

SIFE/BOOST fellows are exposed through workshop training to “Entrepreneur Intelligence” embodied in “Possibility-oriented Living”.

The SIFE/BOOST Fellows go out into the communities teaching on the six SIFE Pillars, which are: Entrepreneurship, Free Market Economics, Financial Literacy, Success Skills, and Sustainability and Business Ethics.

These issues sit well with Delta Corporation, one of whose key concerns in its corporate social responsibility programme is Corporate Governance, with particular attention being paid to Business Ethics. Delta aims to chart a new course for the private sector in Zimbabwe by raising awareness on corporate governance issues. These are primarily business ethics with the primary outcome being the development of business discipline in business owners and their employees.

For the third year running, Delta sponsored the independent Business Ethics and Transparency Initiative Competition. In this competition various projects such as the Chinhoyi University Blue Ethics Day were founded. This is a day when various activities relating to Ethics and Transparency are held from seminars to dramas, while the theme colour is Blue. It also necessitated Partnerships such as that of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) with the Business Ethics Centre of Zimbabwe and Ethics Institute of South Africa. This year the programme ran under theme, Ethics and the Cyberspace.

The company continues to support the conventional SIFE National competitions aside from the running Ethics and Transparency Initiative.