Firms With Unsustainable Business Operations May Face Paucity Of Fund- Oscar Onyema

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Oscar Onyema, said on Thursday that companies that have failed to adopt sustainability in their business operations may be at risk of losing out in the race for the much needed investor funds.

He said this in a show of renewed commitment of the recently demutualised NGX Group to the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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“With investor awareness on the rise, companies that are not adopting sustainability in their business operations are at risk of being left behind or starved of the critical investor funds that can fuel their growth,” Onyema said, during a virtual workshop.

The workshop was on ‘Sustainability and Circular Economy’ organised by the Institute of Directors Nigeria in partnership with Afrikairos.

For Onyema, environmental, social and governance issues have become a critical aspect of corporate leadership which requires increased attention to compliance, risk management and governance as a key part of the Institutional Sustainability Pillar.

The GMD said, from a regulatory perspective, the “recently unveiled Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance, which includes a comprehensive section on sustainability management and reporting, is one of the driving forces for increased focus on ESG issues in Nigeria.”

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He noted that the Nigerian Exchange Limited, a subsidiary of the NEG Plc has imbibed the Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines developed by the Nigerian Stock Exchange as a guide for listed companies on sustainability reporting.

“This is mandatory for its Premium Board listed companies,” he said

Onyema stated further that the Nigerian Exchange Group, Environmental, Social and Governance issues have become critical to the investment decision-making process.

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