ACCA is working with partners to drive sustainability reporting standards adoption in Africa by sharing insights and best practices through a new working group.
How ACCA drives sustainable business
In a world increasingly shaped by interconnected climate-related disasters, economic volatility, and complex societal challenges, the expectations of business stakeholders, including investors, continue to evolve, as organisations face an increasing demand for transparency through comprehensive and connected information on business performance.
ACCA’s commitment to advocate for policies and regulations related to sustainable practices and ethical decision-making help to reinforce corporate responsibility, through the adoption of international standards across jurisdictions.
SWGA background
The Sustainability Working Group Africa (SWGA) was established on the back of this commitment as a call to action from the 2023 Africa Members convention in South Africa, in alignment with the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) efforts to advance the adoption and implementation of the ISSB standards in Africa through its Centre of Excellence.
Championed by ACCA’s head of public affairs for Africa, Jane Ohadike, the SWGA is structured to collaborate with regulators, key institution partners as stakeholder observers, sustainability advisors across Africa and early adopters to unravel practical insights and recommendations in driving jurisdictional adoption of the ISSB standards in Africa.
Structured in two phases, the SWGA partnered with regulators to gather sector insights, analyse findings using frameworks from ACCA’s research, evaluate case studies with ACCA experts, and engage highly credible observers for oversight and advocacy.
Phase one: Lessons from early adopters in Nigeria
Building on its position as the first African country to announce its intention to adopt the International Sustainability standards, the Financial Reporting Council in Nigeria (FRCN) committed to the move in November 2022 and released an adoption roadmap in March 2024, promising a phased implementation, capacity building and a robust assurance framework ‘aligned with local realities’.
Subsequently, ACCA’s partnership with FRCN through the SWGA initiative engaged early adopters of the standards, namely MTN Nigeria (Telecommunication), Access Bank PLC (BFSI) and Seplat Nigeria (Energy) on their learnings, key gaps and recommendations through a series of case studies.
ACCA’s research: the foundation for the case studies
Authored by ACCA’s policy and insights lead for India and Africa; Evelyn Isioye, SWGA Sustainability Reporting in Africa: Nigeria report, the first in our series of country reports, was launched in July 2025, in an Africa-wide multi-stakeholder webinar, convening regional and national regulators, professional accountants, sustainability experts, organisational and institutional partner representatives. This kicked off the first of several joint advocacy initiatives, training and knowledge sharing collaborations on the back of this report, driven via ACCA’s public affairs engagement with institutions such as the IFRS Foundation, FSD Africa, African Forum of Independent Accounting and Auditing Regulators (AFIAAR), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria and the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) Nigeria.
Building on ACCA’s Sustainability reporting: the guide to preparation, the SWGA case studies were structured to provide practical lessons and recommendations to address the realities of six key stakeholder groups across the sustainability reporting ecosystem in Nigeria. This includes:
- Early and first-time jurisdictional adopters
- Board members and c-suites
- Regulators/standard setters overseeing jurisdictional adoption
- Accounting professionals and sustainability practitioners
- Professional accountancy organisations and educational institutions
- Mature adopters / reporting entities
Phase two: Lessons from Rwanda and Ghana
Following the adoption of the IFRS sustainability disclosure adoption roadmap for Ghana, which allowed voluntary adoption of the standards up until 2026, certain entities have begun voluntary adoption. Similarly, Rwanda’s IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards Adoption Roadmap was a significant step for listed entities and Tier 1 financial institutions (such as banks and insurance companies), with the initial phase of adoption commencing in 2025.
Under the SWGA initiative, ACCA captured insights from the case studies of adopting entities willing to share insights on their early adoption journeys, including MTN Ghana (Telecommunications), the Development Bank of Rwanda (BFSI), East African Power (EAP) Rwanda (Energy) and the I&M Bank (BFSI) in Rwanda. This was done in collaboration with the Institute of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana (ICAG) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR).
Partnership impact
ACCA’s leading initiative under the SWGA has led to the production of practical insights on implementation challenges, risks, opportunities and best practices faced by early adopters of the ISSB standards which will support stakeholder engagement discussions and advocacy efforts.
This milestone reflects coordinated efforts across ACCA and our deepening relationship with relevant stakeholders across Africa to support the adoption of the sustainability standards.
As a result, regulatory confidence has been strengthened and strategic partnerships deepened, reinforcing ACCA’s leadership in sustainability reporting and supporting sustainable business practices across the region.
