Frequently Asked Questions
About B Lab
Who is B Lab Africa?
We are a non-profit organization leading an economic systems change in Africa. Challenging the status quo and encouraging an economy that benefits all people, communities, and the planet. Our mission is to accelerate a shift in how business is done in Africa. To redefine business success as not just for profit but also purpose. To encourage businesses to work for positive impact for all stakeholders: workers, customers, community and the environment. Our network creates standards and tools for business, advocates for policy change and certifies companies – known as B Corps – who are leading the way. To date, our community includes over 80 B Corps across Africa impacting people and the planet positively. Over 6000 businesses in Africa measure and manage their impact using the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager.
About B Corps
Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
B Corp Certification is administered by Standards Team at the non-profit B Lab. The standards for B Corp Certification are overseen by B Lab’s independent Standards Advisory Council.
In 2006, three friends left careers in business and private equity and created an organization dedicated to making it easier for mission-driven companies to protect and improve their positive impact over time. The first 82 B Corps were certified in 2007.
There are currently over 9,500 Certified B Corporations in 159 industries across 105 countries.
Probably! There are Certified B Corps in more than 100 countries around the world. Use our B Corp Directory to search by keyword, location, or industry.
Benefit corporations and Certified B Corporations are often confused. The B Corp Certification is a third-party certification administered by the non-profit B Lab, based in part on a company’s verified performance on the B Impact Assessment. The benefit corporation is a legal structure for a business, like an LLC or a corporation. Benefit corporations are legally empowered to pursue positive stakeholder impact alongside profit. Some companies are both Certified B Corporations and benefit corporations, and the benefit corporation structure fulfills the legal accountability requirement of B Corp Certification. Learn more about the difference.
B Corp Certification isn’t a perfect fit for every organization. Nonprofits, large multinationals, governmental organizations and companies of all sectors and sizes can join the B Economy by using B Lab’s impact management and stakeholder governance tools.
Yes! Existing Certified B Corps have gone public, like Silver Chef. Publicly-traded companies have also achieved B Corp Certification, such as Natura. Many other Certified B Corps are subsidiaries of publicly-traded companies, such as Ben & Jerry’s and Sundial Brands (owned by Unilever) and New Chapter (owned by Proctor & Gamble).
Certification
Certified B Corps must meet a legal accountability requirement to maintain Certification. Your company’s legal requirement will vary based on your location and structure. Currently, the legal requirement affects companies in Kenya and Rwanda. Download B Corp Legal requirements here.
B Corp Certification is based in part on a company’s verified performance on the B Impact Assessment, which asks questions about a company’s past fiscal year. This means that companies with less than one year of operations are not yet eligible for B Corp Certification. Instead, they may pursue Pending B Corp status, designed to set a start-up on the path to full Certification.
Certified B Corporations pay an annual certification fee, which licenses them to use intellectual property like the Certified B Corp logo. This fee starts as low as $300 and scales with revenue. You can see the full pricing schedule on the Certification page. Access to the B Impact Assessment is free. Your company may also be subject to additional costs depending on size and structure.
The length of the certification process varies based on a company’s size and complexity. Completing the B Impact Assessment requires a minimum of several hours. The verification process to finalize a company’s score typically takes from several weeks to a few months. Large multinationals or companies with many related entities should expect a longer process.
Any for-profit company with at least a year of operations may pursue B Corp Certification. There is no minimum or maximum size. Certain companies, such as those under a year old, those with related entities, or large multinational and public companies, have additional considerations and requirements.
The standards for B Corp Certification are overseen by B Lab’s independent Standards Advisory Council. Members of the Standards Advisory Council bring industry and stakeholder expertise to bear during the three-year update cycle for the B Impact Assessment, complaints made against Certified B Corps, and material disclosures made by companies pursuing B Corp Certification.
B Lab takes complaints seriously and appreciates those who come forward with them. Material complaints are overseen by B Lab’s independent Standards Advisory Council. Learn more about our complaints process.
The B Impact Assessment
Please select the country where the majority of your employees operate. If your company’s structure is large or complex, we strongly recommend that you get in touch with us so we can help you determine the right certification approach.
B Lab recognises that measuring environmental impact will look different in different companies. The majority of the topics assessed in the Environment section (such as energy usage or travel) still apply for virtual businesses. It might be difficult to collate this information if your employees work from home, or in a shared office space. However, the intent is to meaningfully measure and assess the impact of the space your employees use regardless of whether they are company sanctioned or not.
We typically recommend answering affirmatively to questions that are true for a majority of your employees. For example, if a majority of your employees recycle at home, please select “Yes” for that question. You could also ask your workers to report on their monthly energy and water usage and take an average across your employees.
Yes – you will receive questions that are tailored to the size (number of employees) and type (sector) of business when you register on the B Impact Assessment. Please indicate the appropriate number of employees at this time, so that we can provide you with the most appropriate assessment.
The past twelve months or trailing twelve months is the recommended reporting period. We recommend using the 12-month period that most closely reflects the company’s operations as of today but is easy for your company to report consistently on. As a result, if using the last Fiscal Year is easier, we would encourage your company to use this period. Find out more on reporting periods.
The B Impact Assessment examines a company’s impact on their workers, community, environment, and customers. The BIA also asks questions about a company’s governance structure and accountability. Questions are split into two categories: Operations, which covers a company’s day-to-day activities, and Impact Business Models, which awards additional points for business models designed to create additional positive impact. The B Impact Assessment is updated every year to incorporate feedback and improve upon the standards. Learn more about the performance requirements for Certification.
There are a number of different ways you can access support with the B Impact Assessment:
The Improvement Report on the B Impact Assessment is a valuable tool and you can find out how it works here. The Improvement Report provides recommendations for how to improve your impact based on your current responses to specific questions on the assessment. Many companies actively use this as an improvement tool to increase their score over time.
The Knowledge Base hosts useful articles to guide businesses through the assessment and certification process.
If you require hands-on support to improve your score, B Lab UK trains experienced sustainability professionals in the B Corp certification process and impact measurement framework. These ‘B Leaders’ form a group of external consultants that can support companies through their certification. There are costs to working with these consultants but if that is of interest, you can find out more about B Leaders here and search, filter and contact those consultants that may be most appropriate for you
The time involved largely depends on the size and complexity (number of operating locations) of your company. For most small businesses, it can take a couple of weeks to complete a rough baseline. For larger or more complex companies, it can take several weeks or months. For your convenience, the assessment can be saved and revisited at any time to allow for easy access. The time it takes for a company to submit its application will depend on its initial baseline score and whether a period of improvement is required to reach 80+ points.
To submit your assessment, go into the B Impact Assessment website and navigate to ‘B Corporation Certification’ then ‘Summary’. Here you will see any outstanding actions you need to complete in order to submit. Once the required actions have been completed, the padlock will turn into a submit button. Find out more here.
All of a company’s responses and score reports are strictly confidential.
All employees of B Lab and its network of global affiliates enter into are covered under a company-wide non-disclosure agreement to protect all client and B Impact Assessment user data.
B Lab, its affiliates, or its contractors, may use the information you submit through the B Impact Assessment to develop and validate the assessment.In the event that you have indicated your affiliation with one of our Standards Partners organisations, B Lab reserves the right to share your information with our Standards Partners (organisations that B Lab has entered into a relationship with in regards to the B Impact Assessment).
We are also able to draft a non-disclosure agreement with your company, please reach out to hello@b-labafrica.net if this is of interest to you.
Knowledge Base
Please refer to our Knowledge Base for guidance and support regarding B Lab, B Corps, Certification and B Impact Assessment.
