Dike Onwuamaeze
Federal regulatory agencies and private organisations have described adoption of the IFRS sustainability disclosure standards by Nigerian businesses as a capital attraction strategy that would enable Nigeria to close its $31.5 billion Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) financing gap and accelerate national development.
The view was advanced yesterday in Lagos at the “IFRS Sustainability Standards (ISSB) Capacity Building Workshop” by Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Impact Investors Foundation (IIF), and NGX Regulations Limited.
In his keynote speech, Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of FRC, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, said the IFRS sustainability standard “is a strategic pathway to national development and global competitiveness”.
Olowo said the recognition was why FRC’s adoption style for sustainability reporting was not cosmetic.
He said, “We are really intentional about it. The ISSB framework presents a unique opportunity for Nigeria to align with global best practices while addressing our unique local priorities.
“For us at the FRC, this is a pivotal moment for us because sustainability reporting is no (1:28) longer optional, but “a strategic imperative for building resilient organisations, attracting responsible investment, and driving long-term economic growth.”
In her welcome address, CEO of IIF, Ms. Etemore Glover, said as sustainability-related financial disclosures gained prominence, investors and regulators were increasingly relying on them to assess corporate resilience, market risk, and attract international capital.
Glover said, “By standardising how we communicate environmental and social impacts, we take meaningful steps towards closing the $4 trillion annual financing gap required for developing countries to achieve the sustainable development goals.
“In Nigeria, it is valued at about $31.5 billion to achieve the SDGs and that is whopping.
“So, this workshop is a strategic undertaking by the IIF and it reflects our commitment to move beyond awareness towards true market readiness and to see how countries were preparing towards the ISSG era.”
Director-General of NCCC, Dr. Tenioye Majekodunmi, said the workshop was not merely to discuss a new set of compliance requirements, rather “we are navigating the evolution of corporate transparency and the future of capital allocation that is essential to building a transparent, resilient and sustainable economy.”
Majekodunmi added, “Sustainability reporting is therefore not merely a compliance exercise. It is a strategic imperative for achieving sustained growth and creating economic opportunities for Nigerians.”
Director-General of SEC, Dr. Timi Agama, who was represented by his special assistant, Mr. Tony Iloka, said the physical risks of climate change were not mere abstractions but realities that Nigerians in every political zone were navigating.
He said, “The current administration has signalled clearly its intention to restructure the Nigerian economy, to reduce fossil fuel dependency, attract foreign direct investment, develop a competitive domestic manufacturing and technology base and deploy Nigeria’s economic human capital as the engine of the modern diversified economy.”
Agama explained, “This transformation requires enormous amounts of capital, and here is a fundamental connection to today’s workshop.
“The capital that Nigeria needs from international, institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions and global asset managers is increasingly governed by sustainability criteria.
“Therefore, ESG integration is no longer a preference among a subset of ethical investors. It is a mainstream discipline.
“Institutional capital allocators who manage pension funds, insurance reserves and endowments across North America, Europe, and Asia are legally and judicially obligated to assess and disclose sustainability risks.
“They cannot deploy capital into markets where the disclosure infrastructure does not allow them to make that assessment.
“This is not a complete compliance exercise. It is a capital attraction strategy.”
He said every Nigerian listed company that adopted ISSB-aligned sustainability reporting expanded its potential investors’ universe.
Agama said, “Every issuer that demonstrates credible climate transition planning signals to global investors is ready for the future economy.
“And every element of Nigeria’s regulatory infrastructure that aligns with international sustainability frameworks reduces the perceived risk premium that investors attach to Nigerian assets.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission understands this clearly and it is why sustainability reporting has been positioned as a strategic pillar, not a peripheral annex of a regulatory reform agenda under the Investment and Securities Act 2025.”
He said SEC was developing a revised sustainability reporting framework that adopted IRS S102 as the baseline standard for sustainability-related financial disclosures with appropriate modifications to reflect Nigerian market conditions and capacity realities.
He added that the commission will adopt a phased implementation approach, beginning with large capitalisation companies and progressively extending to mid-cap issuers, capital market operators, and public companies across a defined multi-year timeline.
Agama said from a regulatory standpoint what struck him most about ISSB architecture was its design as a global baseline, a floor, not a ceiling.
He explained that it was explicitly designed to be interoperable with jurisdictional frameworks, including European sustainability reporting standards, the UK sustainability disclosure standards, and others.
According to him, “This interoperability is enormously important for markets like Nigeria, because it means that adoption of the ISSB baseline does not create a conflict with the requirements of the jurisdictions from which issuers seek to attract capital.
“It positions us within the mainstream of international disclosure practice, not outside it.”
Agama said the Nigerian corporate sector had demonstrated repeatedly its capacity to absorb and implement complex regulatory reporting frameworks.
He stated, “The transition to IFRS accounting standards, which was itself a demanding and technically complex exercise was accomplished successfully.
“The adoption of international standards on auditing, implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, integration of ISO principles into our market oversight regime, these are all evidence of a regulatory and corporate ecosystem with real adaptive capacity.
“What is required is not a lowering of standards. What is required is a structured, well-supported, adequately resourced implementation programme.”
In his presentation, Chief Executive Officer of NGX Regulation Limited, Mr. Olufemi Shobanjo, said sustainability had become an important factor in business strategies, with large multinationals and mid-sized companies increasingly taking a long-term view towards managing environmental and social risks.
Shobanjo said many companies had recognised that by addressing environmental and social issues they could achieve better growth and cost savings, improve their brand and reputation, strengthen stakeholders’ relations, and boost their bottom line.
He said, “It has indeed been an interesting journey, with the progress so far made possible by collaborations and market engagements with key stakeholders to prepare organisations for seamless adoption and implementation of the standards.”
He said NGX had reiterated the immense benefits of investing in sustainable strategies on the overall performance of businesses, stakeholders and the economy.
He said issuers were encouraged to adopt sustainability practices and put in place processes to show their readiness in preparation for the new sustainability disclosure standards.
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