Multinational firms face growing pressure to demonstrate positive societal impact in the frontier markets where they operate, yet many ESG and CSR initiatives fail to earn local trust—and sometimes provoke backlash. Drawing on six years of field research and 853 interviews across seven East African countries, this study finds that local stakeholders evaluate corporate impact very differently from firms’ headquarters or global investors. Rather than focusing on formal policies or philanthropic projects, communities look for tangible signals: whether firms build useful skills, distribute benefits broadly, empower local partners, tailor solutions to local realities, and integrate impact into core strategy. Companies that understand and respond to these locally grounded expectations are far more likely to gain legitimacy and build durable reputations for positive impact.
