Last updated: 10 Jun 2024 05:00 Posted in:
The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the IFRS Foundation have joined forces to promote sustainability-related disclosure practices in Africa.
Together they plan to engage with African financial institutions, regulators and policy makers to provide capacity building and technical assistance. The aim is to develop the knowledge and capacities for effective sustainability disclosure, in compliance with ISSAB Standards, to support investor decision-making.
There is strong support for the introduction of ISSB Standards in Africa; both Kenya and Nigeria have signalled their intent to adopt and use them.
ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber said: “We have heard from African companies of the perceived benefits in using the ISSB Standards to communicate about transition and physical risks to secure competitive advantage and attract investment. Through our partnership with the African Development Bank we will be better placed to unlock the benefits of sustainability reporting for African companies and economies.”
AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said: “We are committed to supporting markets across Africa to advance sustainability disclosure practices. Partnership with the IFRS Foundation will help us to provide capacity building and assistance for greater transparency, accountability and efficiency, with the aim of mobilising capital flows across Africa.
“We and the ISSB have a shared interest in mobilising private climate finance. Central banks and financial markets need to introduce green priorities in their work. Valuation by capital markets must move increasingly towards green markets. Capacity building is essential, and we need to support our countries in order to access climate finance.”
And Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Economy Coordinator and Chair of the African Caucus, Wale Edun, said he “supports the partnership between the African Development Bank and the ISSB to deepen the global sustainability disclosure base in order to meet the needs of African capital markets, which will improve transparency, accountability, efficiency and comparability”.
He emphasised that if African jurisdictions and companies adopted early, more investment could be attracted and stimulate private sector development in Africa. He urged the ISSB and the Bank to provide strong advisory and capacity-building support to unlock capital flows, working in parallel with a widespread adoption of ISSB standards in Africa, led by Nigeria, the first country to launch and adopt IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.
"Central banks and financial markets need to introduce green priorities in their work. Valuation by capital markets must move increasingly towards green markets. Capacity building is essential, and we need to support our countries in order to access climate finance.”
Akinwumi Adesina, AfDB President