The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has released its 2015 Sustainability Report titled “Ushering in a new era of sustainability in the Nigerian market place”.
According to a release by the Exchange, the report, the second edition, demonstrates how the Exchange showcases the importance of sustainable business practices in delivering value and supporting economic growth.
The report, which is in accordance to the Global Reporting Initiative G4 Guidelines is said to align with the Exchange’s Corporate Social Responsibility framework and covers the four key impact areas it has devoted attention and resources and these are in the following areas.
Market Place: The NSE promotes market-based approach to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) imperatives amongst all stakeholders. Here, the Exchange said its major achievements include assessed and rated all companies on the premium board using the Corporate Governance Rating System and executing advanced capital market awareness programme in over 50 Nigerian tertiary institutions
Community: The NSE said it made positive contributions to the communities where it lives and works, adding that the Key progress recorded in this area are implementation of 172 Financial Literacy programmes across the nation, reaching 15,000 people, launching of Adopt-A-School Programme at Oke-Odo High School, Lagos.
“Under the pilot scheme, 52 teachers were trained on soft skills, information & communication technology and financial intelligence; 250 students participated in career workshop; and a Learning and Development Centre was donated to the school”.
Still under this, 50 federal and state universities benefitted from a book donation programme, it organised the second edition of the NSE Corporate Challenge with over 500 runners and over 27 million impressions on twitter. It held a Closing Gong ceremony in March 2015 to commemorate International Women’s Day in partnership with SSE Initiative, United Nations Global Compact.
Under “Workplace: As a responsible employer, the NSE fosters engaging and high performing work environment that facilitates diversity, wellbeing and development of our people. During this period, the CSR Champions Network and Employee Volunteering Scheme was launched and 21 per cent of employees signed up for the Employee Volunteering programme, employees at all levels participated in 93 training and development programmes”
In the area of “Environment: The NSE is committed to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment. Through an environmental management approach, the Exchange has been able to: achieve 70 per cent of lighting load reduction and 20 per cent overall energy savings, translating to 1,392,717 kilowatts saved from July to December, 2015 as well as recycling of 8 per cent of waste generated at the NSE.
Commenting on the report, the Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, said: “As we strive to create durable wealth for our stakeholders, the NSE continues to highlight the importance of sustainable business practices in delivering value and supporting economic growth. In 2015, we continued the holistic implementation and integration of the NSE Corporate Sustainability Strategy into our day-to-day operations, in order to effectively manage risks and business development opportunities. While we are pleased to report that we have held ourselves accountable to the highest standards, we are also intensifying our advocacy efforts to support the integration of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) imperatives in the Nigerian capital market”.
The achievements of The Exchange are not lost on key local and international observers. The Exchange received four awards in 2015 in recognition of its game changing initiatives in promoting ESG and transparency and they are: African Regulator of the Year Award; Award for promoting best practice reporting and corporate disclosure; Financial Institution of the Year and Best Corporate Social Responsibility Award.
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