
Leveraging Agenda 2063 for Sustainable Marketing: Innovation, Social Impact, and Economic Growth in Africa
Issue: Vol.6 No.5 Issue Article 9 pp. 484 – 498
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025659 | Published online 11th April, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Sustainable marketing has become increasingly relevant in the development context of Africa. Agenda 2063 focuses on fostering inclusive economic growth, enhancing social welfare, and promoting environmental sustainability across the continent. Despite the promising opportunities outlined by Agenda 2063, businesses across Africa face significant challenges in developing sustainable marketing strategies that align with the economic, social, and environmental goals of the framework. There is a lack of widespread adoption of sustainable marketing across the continent. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how sustainable marketing strategies can support the economic, social, and environmental goals of Agenda 2063, further identifying challenges and opportunities for African businesses in aligning these strategies with both Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. This was achieved by using a desktop research method where secondary data was collected through publications on electronic databases using keywords that were relevant to the study. It was found that sustainable marketing strategies can support the economic, social, and environmental goals of Agenda 2063 through innovative and socially responsible marketing initiatives; technological advancements; sustainable marketing strategies; and promoting environmentally sustainable products and services. Furthermore, the challenges, identified by this study, were resource constraints, poor governance, and poor infrastructure. The opportunities were collaboration, investment in infrastructure, and adherence to the principles of Agenda 2063. It was recommended that companies seeking to enter or expand into African markets while adhering to the goals of Agenda 2063 must prioritize sustainability by adopting innovative and socially responsible marketing strategies.
Keywords: Sustainable Marketing, Africa Agenda 2063, Regional Integration, Corporate Social Responsibility, African Business Strategies
Alwago, Wycliffe Obwori. “A Partial Least Squares Analysis of Gender Inequality, Occupational Segregation, and Economic Growth: Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa.” Regional Science Policy & Practice 15, no. 6 (2023): 1299–1317.
Amer, Haidy. “The Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption on the Human Development Index in Selected Countries: Panel Analysis (1990–2015).” Int J Econ Energy Environ 5, no. 4 (2020): 47.
Aniche, Ernest Toochi. “African Continental Free Trade Area and African Union Agenda 2063: The Roads to Addis Ababa and Kigali.” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 41, no. 4 (2023): 377–92.
Bilgi, Ismail, Lyudmila Mihaylova, and Emil Papazov. “Internal Control Activities in Small Turkish Companies.” Management: Journal of Contemporary Management Issues 22, no. Special Issue (2017): 69–83.
Bright, Jake, and Aubrey Hruby. The next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Powerhouse. Macmillan, 2015.
Byiers, Bruce, Karim Karaki, and Jan Vanheukelom. “Regional Markets, Politics and Value Chains.” The West African Cement (Discussion Paper No. 216). https://ecdpm. org …, 2017.
Cilliers, Jakkie. The Future of Africa: Challenges and Opportunities. Springer Nature, 2021.
Cissé, Daouda. “Partnership for the Development of Africa’s Telecommunications Sector Under Agenda 2063: African and Chinese Telecommunications Companies in Africa.” In Perspectives on Africa-China Infrastructural and Industrial Cooperation: Empirical Findings and Conceptual Implications, 73–97. Springer, 2023.
DeGhetto, Kaitlyn, Jacob R Gray, and Moses N Kiggundu. “The African Union’s Agenda 2063: Aspirations, Challenges, and Opportunities for Management Research.” Africa Journal of Management 2, no. 1 (2016): 93–116.
Healey, Nigel Martin. “Reflections on the Value of Insider Research as a Qualitative Research Methodology,” 2017.
Idemudia, Uwafiokun, and Kenneth Amaeshi. Africapitalism: Sustainable Business and Development in Africa. Routledge, 2019.
Ikubaje-Aina, I. “Women’s Empowerment and Development in Africa: Strides and Tides.” Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063 (2015): 17–21.
Iliffe, John. Africans: The History of a Continent. Vol. 137. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Ismail, Faizal A. “Advancing Regional Integration in Africa through the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA).” Law and Development Review 10, no. 1 (2017): 119–46.
Koehn, Peter. Refugees from Revolution: US Policy and Third World Migration. Routledge, 2019.
Kroll, Christian, Anne Warchold, and Prajal Pradhan. “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Are We Successful in Turning Trade-Offs into Synergies?” Palgrave Communications 5, no. 1 (November 12, 2019): 140. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0335-5.
Kupika, Olga L, Edson Gandiwa, Shakkie Kativu, and Godwell Nhamo. “Impacts of Climate Change and Climate Variability on Wildlife Resources in Southern Africa: Experience from Selected Protected Areas in Zimbabwe.” Selected Studies in Biodiversity, 2017, 1–23.
Mhangara, Paidamwoyo, Asanda Lamba, Willard Mapurisa, and Naledzani Mudau. “Towards the Development of Agenda 2063 Geo-Portal to Support Sustainable Development in Africa.” ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 8, no. 9 (2019): 399.
Mlambo, V. “Living in the Dark: Load Shedding and South Africa’s Quest for Inclusive Development.” International Journal of Social Sciences 11, no. 2 (2023): 1–8.
Mlambo, Victor H, Xolani Thusi, and Sbonelo Gift Ndlovuand. “The African Union’s Agenda 2063 For Africa’s Development: Possibility Or Ruse?” Prizren Social Science Journal 6, no. 3 (2022): 64–74.
Mosala, Seshupo. “Pan-Africanism and the Right to Development in Africa: A Critical Analysis of Agenda 2063.” African Renaissance (1744-2532) 21, no. 2 (2024).
Ndizera, Vedaste, and Hannah Muzee. “A Critical Review of Agenda 2063: Business as Usual?” African Journal of Political Science and International Relations 12, no. 8 (2018): 142–54.
Nhamo, Godwell. “New Global Sustainable Development Agenda: A Focus on Africa.” Sustainable Development 25, no. 3 (2017): 227–41.
Nwozor, Agaptus, Onjefu Okidu, and Solomon Adedire. “Agenda 2063 and the Feasibility of Sustainable Development in Africa: Any Silver Bullet?” Journal of Black Studies 52, no. 7 (2021): 688–715.
Oramah, Benedict. “Africa’s Trade & Economic Development Priorities: The Road to Agenda 2063.” Development Finance Agenda (DEFA) 3, no. 4 (2017): 4–7.
Pantić, Marijana, Juaneé Cilliers, Guido Cimadomo, Fernando Montaño, Olusola Olufemi, Sally Torres Mallma, and Johan Van den Berg. “Challenges and Opportunities for Public Participation in Urban and Regional Planning during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Lessons Learned for the Future.” Land 10, no. 12 (2021): 1379.
Rassel, Gary, Suzanne Leland, Zachary Mohr, and Elizabethann O’Sullivan. Research Methods for Public Administrators. Routledge, 2020.
Royo, Margarita Garfias, Loan Diep, Joe Mulligan, Pascal Mukanga, and Priti Parikh. “Linking the UN Sustainable Development Goals and African Agenda 2063: Understanding Overlaps and Gaps between the Global Goals and Continental Priorities for Africa.” World Development Sustainability 1 (2022): 100010.
Sparks, Donald L. “The Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063: Implications for Economic Integration in Africa.” Research in Applied Economics 8, no. 4 (2016): 45–73.
Varadarajan, Rajan. “Innovating for Sustainability: A Framework for Sustainable Innovations and a Model of Sustainable Innovations Orientation.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 45 (2017): 14–36.
Weigert, Maxime. “Jumia Travel in Africa: Expanding the Boundaries of the Online Travel Agency Business Model.” Tourism Review 74, no. 6 (2019): 1167–78.
Zubok, V.M. “Myths and Realities of Putinism and NATO Expansion.” In Evaluating NATO Enlargement: From Cold War Victory to the Russia-Ukraine War, 145–59. Cham: Springer International Publishing., 2023.
Gugulethu Zandisiwe Mhlanga is a Honours student at Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Law and Management, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 3629, South Africa. Email: guguzandimhlanga@gmail.com
Dr. Andrisha Beharry-Ramraj is a Senior lecturer at Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Law and Management, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 3629, South Africa. Email: beharrya@ukzn.ac.za
Mhlanga, Gugulethu Zandisiwe, and Andrisha Beharry-Ramraj. “Leveraging Agenda 2063 for Sustainable Marketing: Innovation, Social Impact, and Economic Growth in Africa,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no.5 (2025): 484 – 498. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025659
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).