The phased implementation will start with voluntary adoption by early adopters and enormous public curiosity entities earlier than changing into necessary in 2027. The requirement will lengthen to different public curiosity entities in 2028 and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) by 2030.
Dr Emomotimi Agama, Director-Basic of the SEC, disclosed this on the 2026 Monetary Establishments Coaching Centre (FITC) Sustainability and ESG Convention 3.0 in Lagos, themed ‘Constructing a Sustainable Africa: Integrating Environmental Stewardship, Social Funding, and Robust Governance for a Affluent Future’.
Agama stated Nigeria’s sustainability disclosure regime is being aligned with the Worldwide Sustainability Requirements Board (ISSB) framework, together with IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, which have emerged as the worldwide benchmark for sustainability reporting.
He stated that institutional traders more and more think about ESG efficiency a key determinant of capital allocation reasonably than a peripheral company accountability challenge, noting that the worth of entry is disclosure.
He stated the reforms would strengthen investor confidence and place Nigerian companies to entry world capital markets, the place sustainability disclosures have gotten a vital funding requirement.
In line with him, Nigeria’s capital market has recorded vital enlargement, with market capitalisation rising from about N130 trillion to almost N160 trillion following current market reforms, whereas property underneath administration have surpassed N9 trillion.
To deepen sustainable finance, Agama stated the fee was selling infrastructure, inexperienced and municipal bonds, alongside infrastructure-focused funding funds, to mobilise long-term capital for essential nationwide tasks.
He added that the SEC would additionally encourage investments in the blue economic system and assist financing for the facility sector by means of inexperienced vitality bonds, mission bonds and public-private funding buildings.
The SEC chief cited the current launch of the Nigerian Trade (NGX) Affect Board as one other milestone in advancing sustainable finance and urged firms, regulators and traders to maneuver past commitments by embedding sustainability into governance, operations and funding choices.
Managing Director and Chief Govt Officer of the Monetary Establishments Coaching Centre (FITC), Dr Chizor Malize, stated sustainability and ESG had advanced from compliance points to core drivers of enterprise competitiveness, funding choices and financial growth.
She stated the convention, now in its third version since 2024, had turn into a number one platform for advancing sustainability discourse in Africa, including that this yr’s gathering was designed to maneuver stakeholders “from dialog to dedication”.
Chairman of the FITC Advisory Board, Prof Fabian Ajogwu, described governance as the inspiration of sustainable growth, arguing that Africa should turn into a standard-setter reasonably than merely adopting frameworks developed elsewhere.
Though Africa contributes lower than 4 per cent of world greenhouse fuel emissions, he stated, the continent bears a disproportionate share of climate-related impacts, together with worsening floods and more and more erratic climate patterns.
Ajogwu additionally cited estimates that poor governance prices Africa between $88 billion and $90 billion yearly, whereas highlighting technology-driven agricultural initiatives, together with a partnership involving Morocco’s OCP Group and the Nigeria Sovereign Funding Authority (NSIA), as examples of sensible fashions that needs to be replicated throughout the continent.
Delivering the keynote handle, Chairman of the MTN Nigeria Basis, Mosun Belo-Olusoga, stated the talk over the relevance of sustainability and ESG had ended, with the actual problem now centred on implementation.
She noticed that world traders more and more consider companies on governance high quality, resilience and their capability to handle environmental and social dangers, in addition to profitability.
Belo-Olusoga famous that regardless of contributing the least to world carbon emissions, Africa possesses huge arable land, considerable renewable vitality sources and demanding minerals required for the worldwide vitality transition.
She recognized 4 management priorities for the continent: shifting from short-term efficiency to long-term worth creation, changing company philanthropy with strategic social funding, shifting past regulatory compliance to accountable management, and strengthening collaboration amongst governments, companies and growth companions.
She additionally outlined 5 priorities for Africa’s ESG agenda over the following decade, together with embedding sustainability into company technique and governance, investing in human capital, mobilising indigenous capital by means of devices similar to inexperienced bonds and pension funds, strengthening institutional accountability, and fostering partnerships in renewable vitality, digital expertise and climate-smart agriculture.
“The defining problem earlier than Africa is just not a scarcity of imaginative and prescient; it’s execution,” Belo-Olusoga stated, urging governments to create enabling insurance policies, companies to combine ESG into enterprise danger administration, and monetary establishments to develop progressive financing mechanisms that assist a inexperienced and inclusive economic system.
