Gaia Capitalist

Michael Odiya has a vision. When he looks at the sun-drenched land of northern Uganda he doesn’t see the remnants of 20 years of civil war or the poverty or the seeming lack of opportunities. What he sees are acres of simsim/sesame, palm oil and sunflowers, cultivated by local growers for processing into biofuels at a local plant. He sees solar panels on the roofs of buildings, powering everything from water pumps, water heating tanks, solar light bulbs, energy saving refrigerators, solar chargers, mobile power stations, street lighting, bus stop lighting, street signs, solar cookers, air cooling and heating

In those fields and buildings, Odiya sees men, women and children leading better lives.

Michael Odiya is an example of a Gaia Capitalist. Coined recently by Sir Richard Branson, Gaia Capitalism is a business philosophy combining the best of ambition and altruism. Profit, gain, growth continue to be hallmarks of the capitalistic enterprise but the goals for success now include factors that have not been considered important in the traditional model.

Gaia is loosely the belief that all life streams from the same single source. If this is so, then all beings in a venture have intrinsic value beyond the bottom line. It is well known that compensation at the management level must have market parity to attract and keep talent, to provide incentives for hard work and dedication and to reward success. Salaries, benefits, stock options and perks for corporate officers has risen exponentially in the last ten years compared to employee pay. In the United States, workers in the bottom half have seen their real income fall. It may be an old saying but the rich have gotten very rich and the poor have done very poorly.

Health care costs, fuel and energy spikes, foreign competition have all been blamed for stagnant wages, cuts in benefits, outsourcing, layoffs and business closures. According to a traditional capitalist, bottom line figures have to be adjusted to keep profits up and costs down. One might conclude that laying off 100 workers on December 24 is a clever way to cut 4th quarter expenses, thereby showing a better performance on paper.

The Gaia capitalist thinks about the children of those 100 workers and what the effects of having a parent lose their job the day before Christmas. The Gaia capitalist believes that a company’s profit streams from the labor of all its workers and, therefore, every employee is entitled to respect and adequate compensation. This respect and consideration extends into the community and the environment, mandating responsible and ethical business decisions. In Gaia capitalism, the very concept of profit and success has been redefined to include the wellbeing of all.

Michael Odiya expresses this concept in his business proposal. In his words, the very basis of his ambition is “our overriding objective is to play a part in fulfilling the goals and aspirations of our employees, customers, management, society and the universe.” His company, Green Energy (U), located in Gulu, Uganda is dedicated to developing bioenergy to benefit the people of Uganda and to help bring them a brighter future.

For more information about Mr. Odiya and his Green Fuels company on VirginFuels.org.