Nigeria, first African nation to adopt ISSB

Nigeria is the first African country to adopt the International Sustainability StandardsBoard (ISSB).

The ISSB standards build significantly from existing reporting frameworks and standards.

At their core, the ISSB standards will enable investors and other capital market participants to make informed investment decisions by providing information about companies’ sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

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This was disclosed by the executive secretary/CEO of the Financial Reporting Council ofNigeria (FRC) Ambassador Shuaibu Adamu Ahmed at the 2023 Annual Corporate Governance Conference.

Speaking on the theme: “ESG and Corporate Governance: Aligning Strategies forSustainable Success,” Amb. Ahmed, the guest Speaker, said that the world of corporate governance had undergone tremendous changes due to the emergence of Environmental, Social, and Governance, better knownas ESG.

He stressed that with the ESG, the Corporate Governance world had now taken a look at issues of the environment, and labour, and had looked at social responsibility more seriously.

He further disclosed that a road map for the implementation of ESG in the Nigerian public sector would soon be launched.

Also, speaking at the event, the keynote speaker, Dr. Jackie Chimhanzi noted that human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption were problems associated with corporate governance, which ESG addressed together with the present-day challenges.

Speaking earlier, the President of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, Mr. Muhammed K.Ahmad stated that issues around environmental responsibility are no longer athing of choice for corporate organizations because it affect them.

Discussants at the event Mark Hoffman, Mrs. Chioma Afe, Ngozi Edozien, as well as AdebayoAmzat.The event was attended by the director general/ CEO of the Institute of Directors Tijjani Borodo, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, and Mr Ibrahim Dasok Arabi among others.