Deloitte holds meeting to facilitate sustainability discussion

Deloitte Nigeria has recently facilitated a discussion around sustainability reporting in the Nigerian economy at a breakfast session hosted by the Big Four accounting and advisory firm. The session was themed: ‘Distilling Leading Practices in Sustainability Reporting,’ and drew many high profile attendees. 

The event addressed the need for standards in the reporting of activity in the environmental social and corporate governance (ESG) domain, as pressure mounts to invest in these domains. Some efforts in this direction include the Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines laid down by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

While the guidelines might not have been immediately effective in terms of standardisation, leaders at the event agreed that they had helped bring sustainability issues to the forefront of discussion, something that is an increasingly central priority for economies across Africa for the near future.

A report from FTI Consulting earlier this year described how Africa’s anticipated economic boom is set to coincide with a global shift towards more sustainable practices. In this scenario, economies on the continent are poised to develop best practices when it comes to sustainable development.

Nigeria is among the leading economies on the continent, and is a driver of economic growth for the region. Efforts towards sustainable development in Nigeria are likely to have significant positive repercussions for the rest of the economy. One positive trend noted recently by Big Four accounting and advisory firm PwC is the shift away from oil towards natural gas due to increase environmental conscientiousness.

Deloitte West Africa’s Chief Operating Officer attended the event and stressed the importance of awareness as a driver of change towards sustainability. “Organisations should be aware of the need to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that contribute towards sustainable development.”

Head of the Shared Services Division at the Nigerian Stock Exchange Bola Adeeko, meanwhile, spoke of how gravitation towards sustainability is a gradual process. “Reporting formats in smaller organisations may differ from the established practices of large companies but we must recognise and accept that we are all at different stages of the journey towards embedding sustainability into our respective organisations,” he said.