The idea that businesses should approach their operations with an environmental, social & governance focus has become the most prevalent watchword all over the world. In fact, asI can’t think of any other investment phenomenon that has spread so fast.”
And so we have to play catch-up to get to where many companies in Europe or the US may be in terms of their ability to collect and analyse data. Similarly, access to the services of ratings agencies is more limited in Africa — not least because of the high costs involved in engaging these service providers, who are mostly not domestic businesses.
The recognition of this gap has led to a greater focus on the issue by the International Sustainability Standards Board , which aims to establish a global baseline for ESG disclosures and to thus aid in establishing uniformity across the key ratings providers so that stakeholders may be better able to evaluate and compare companies to their peers.