CSRAméricas 2012, the region’s leading annual event on corporate social responsibility, opened this week in Quito, Ecuador.

The inauguration was attended by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno, who called on firms to adopt innovative means for including disadvantaged people in the workforce and making them partners across the value chain.

Moreno also stressed the importance of innovation for developing growth models that do not rely on the intensive use of natural resources.

Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?

Robin Murray Brown of Tyzack Partners looks at the various strategies boards need to employ in order to avoid becoming victims of an increasingly competitive business environment.

Albert Einstein once observed that “any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction”. What, I wonder, might he have made of the corporate leadership challenges of the early 21st century?

After being hurt by falling coal prices in 2008, Trollope Mining Services has grown dramatically by taking a more balanced approach.

Headquartered in Johannesburg, Trollope Mining Services provides expertise in surface mining services. These include opencast mining, rehabilitation, bulk earthworks, plant hire and road construction. Much of the work involves excavating land and then drilling and blasting, stock-piling usable materials and removing any rubble.

Petrolube, an affiliated member of the global lubricants group Fuchs Group, was established in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, more than a decade ago. Now, exponential growth in the mining of gold and other minerals has presented it with unique opportunities.

European dairy co-operative Arla Foods has announced plans for two major mergers—with German dairy Milch-Union Hocheifel and the UK’s Milk Link.

Milch-Union Hocheifel (MUH) is Germany’s eighth largest dairy with owners in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. Milk Link is the UK’s fourth largest dairy.

If the mergers are finalised and approved, Arla will be represented by owners in its four largest markets: the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as Belgium and Luxembourg.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has become the first commercial company to launch a spacecraft mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket at 3:44am Eastern time today, from its launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The rocket is carrying a Dragon spacecraft which will now be subjected to a series of tests to determine if the vehicle is ready to berth with the station.

South Africa’s Department of Energy has approved 19 proposals for renewable energy projects in the second round of its request for bids.

The Department of Energy received 79 bids in total for the second round, of which 51 met the qualification criteria. However, given the MW limitation and competition, only 19 bidders were selected as preferred.

Together, the second round proposals represent almost R28 billion in investment.