Nigeria has been urged to push for corporate behavioural change in mainstreaming Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) advantages in the enlarged business space to unlock the much-needed Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) for the country as well as open up more businesses.
Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), Dr. Rabiu Olowo, said this yesterday, at the Sustainable Future Africa 2023 forum, a collaborative venture between Hudson Sandler and the United Nations Global Compact Nigeria, where he spoke on ‘ESG Advantage: Shaping Profitable and Purposeful Paths for Sustainable Development in Nigerian Businesses.’
He noted that Nigerian businesses could benefit from embracing fully, ESG principles to share a profitable and purposeful path for sustainable development.
Stating the importance of ESG as a framework and responsible business practices, the FRC chief said it has evolved from what it was a few years back to a responsible business practice today.
According to him, it has gained its importance as a framework for companies to integrate sustainability, responsibility and ethics into the appropriations.
Olowo, who was represented by a director in the FRC, Iheanyi Anyahara, said it could provide advantages in terms of risk mitigation, access to capital, operational efficiency, community engagement, innovation and adaptation.
In effectively leveraging the ESG advantage for sustainable development, Olowo said Nigerian businesses should start by conducting a comprehensive ESG assessment, setting ESG goals and integrating them into their corporate strategy. According to him, “ESG should be communicated transparently to build stakeholder’s trust.
“Comparing sustainability with purposeful ESG goals can help Nigerian businesses thrive in the evolving global landscape while contributing to the sustainable development of the country’s global landscape.
“Globally, today’s ESG landscape is being shared by several factors, forcing organisations to realign their strategy. First, consolidation among standards setters and the eventual establishment of an international sustainability standard group, which represents an important step in establishing transparent, comparable and reliable global sustainability reporting standards.”
Partner at Hudson Sandler, Onyebuchi Ajufo, said the meeting was to explore how by unraveling the narrative sustainability and financial access are mutually exclusive. Chief Corporate Services Officer, IHS Nigeria, Dapo Otunla, said to cut emissions by 50 per cent in 2030, gaps such as sustainability needed to be narrowed.
Nigeria has been urged to push for corporate behavioural change in mainstreaming Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) advantages in the enlarged business space to unlock the much-needed Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) for the country as well as open up more businesses.
Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), Dr. Rabiu Olowo, said this yesterday, at the Sustainable Future Africa 2023 forum, a collaborative venture between Hudson Sandler and the United Nations Global Compact Nigeria, where he spoke on ‘ESG Advantage: Shaping Profitable and Purposeful Paths for Sustainable Development in Nigerian Businesses.’
He noted that Nigerian businesses could benefit from embracing fully, ESG principles to share a profitable and purposeful path for sustainable development. Stating the importance of ESG as a framework and responsible business practices, the FRC chief said it has evolved from what it was a few years back to a responsible business practice today.
According to him, it has gained its importance as a framework for companies to integrate sustainability, responsibility and ethics into the appropriations. Olowo, who was represented by a director in the FRC, Iheanyi Anyahara, said it could provide advantages in terms of risk mitigation, access to capital, operational efficiency, community engagement, innovation and adaptation.
In effectively leveraging the ESG advantage for sustainable development, Olowo said Nigerian businesses should start by conducting a comprehensive ESG assessment, setting ESG goals and integrating them into their corporate strategy. According to him, “ESG should be communicated transparently to build stakeholder’s trust.
“Comparing sustainability with purposeful ESG goals can help Nigerian businesses thrive in the evolving global landscape while contributing to the sustainable development of the country’s global landscape.
“Globally, today’s ESG landscape is being shared by several factors, forcing organisations to realign their strategy. First, consolidation among standards setters and the eventual establishment of an international sustainability standard group, which represents an important step in establishing transparent, comparable and reliable global sustainability reporting standards.”
Partner at Hudson Sandler, Onyebuchi Ajufo, said the meeting was to explore how by unraveling the narrative sustainability and financial access are mutually exclusive. Chief Corporate Services Officer, IHS Nigeria, Dapo Otunla, said to cut emissions by 50 per cent in 2030, gaps such as sustainability needed to be narrowed.
Source: The Guardian
