The Impact Investors Foundation, in collaboration with the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, has boosted the capacity of over 100 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on financial and sustainability professionals in the public and private sectors.
The training also exposed the participants to  the adoption of the new International Sustainability Standards Board of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS), Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
The training was held in Lagos and Abuja to prepare companies in the country for the implementation of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, which will help to create a global baseline of consistent, financial reporting, which would be useful for the investors’ decision-making, the organisations noted.
The workshops had representatives of listed and large corporates, SMEs, enterprise support organisations, investors, Chambers of Commerce, policymakers, financial regulators, professionals of the accounting profession, and academia in attendance.
In her opening remarks, the Chairperson for Nigeria’s National Advisory Board for Impact Investing Foundation, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, said conversations on impact transparency and measurement were important to position Nigeria for the benefits of impact investment and increase the flow of capital to the nation.
She said, “Having the right partners, working with the right organisations like FRC so that there is winning, to give value for companies who are willing to support what is a global vision. No matter what we say, if those who are regulators and operators do not have an understanding, we are missing the point.
“If there are nations of the world who should be at the edge of impact investing and benefit from it, then, definitely we should be number one. We have so much to do, to contend with and it affords us the opportunity to have our problems looked at from a different view and to consider the flow of capital into our country from different lenses”.
The CEO of Impact Investors Foundation, Ms Etemore Glover, said that increased transparency meant more opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs), impact capital, partnerships and long-term value creation and sustainability of businesses.
She charged participants to be the champions of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) by adopting and implementing it for their businesses, while commending MTN Nigeria for getting its leaders on board as early adopters of the standards.
The Chief Policy Officer of Global Steering Group For Impact Investment (GSG), Mr Sebastian Welisiejko, explained that impact transparency was at the core of GSG’s mission as it would accelerate the advancement of impact-led economies.
He added that private capital flows to emerging economies, including Nigeria, were estimated to have declined by 22 per cent from 2019 to 2022, increasing the annual financing gap to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“However, impact transparency can reverse the trend because providing adequate information on the social and environmental impact of businesses would encourage investment flow and bridge the SDG financing gap.