“Stock Exchanges in Sub-Saharan Africa: Capturing Intent Towards ESG Requirements” – ACCA – July 16, 2014

On July 16, 2014 ACCA the global body for professional accountants, published a report analyzing entitled, “Stock Exchanges in Sub-Saharan Africa:  Capturing Intent Towards ESG Requirements.”

“Examining stock exchanges in Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, Mauritius, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the report, says that while there are fledgling signs of intent to introduce ESG disclosures from some of the stock exchanges, there is room for more commitment to be shown and more widespread action on their part. The report urges stock exchanges to to develop more extensive and meaningful disclosure requirements.

The report also finds that with the exception of listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), which is the most advanced stock exchange in the region when it comes to sustainability, the level of sustainability reporting from the largest listed companies across sub-Saharan Africa is very low, with only 13 companies (15%) reporting on sustainability, either through a sustainability report, combined report or integrated report. The ACCA report calls for listed companies in this region to increase the quantity and quality of their sustainability disclosures

You may more on the ACCA internet site, where you may also download the report.