The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in collaboration with its partners has launched the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) to serve as guiding manual for both prospective and listed companies on the local burse in a bid to enhance transparency and accountability.
The manual will enable listed Firms, collect, analyse, and publicly disclose important ESG information using an approach that meets international standards in sustainability reporting.
“This manual will actually guide companies when it comes to reporting along the ESG guidelines. And the ESG is about Environmental Social and other issues associated. All we are saying is that, once the regulator approved this guidelines, we do some training then after that we introduce this requirement into our listing obligations for listed companies.”
Ekow Afedzi
Speaking at the launch of the manual, outgoing Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr. Ekow Afedzi, noted that listed companies will from next year be required to publish the Environment, Social and Governance document alongside their financials.
“In other words, listed companies will now have to report some other things than financials. So next year, we will make sure that as we review our listing rules we include some of these requirements.”
Ekow Afedzi
Integration of Guidelines into Master Plan
On her part, Deputy Director-General Legal at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Deborah Mawuse Agyemfra, stated that these guidelines have been integrated into Capital Market Master Plan for the next 10 years to promote sustainability and transparency.
“A sustainable finance becomes more mainstream as a common thread among all companies strategies. A sustainable finance is very important in the operations of companies and everything they do.”
Deborah Mawuse Agyemfra
According to the Deputy Director-General Legal at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the launch of the ESG is an important step taken by the local bourse to make the Exchange compete internationally.
“The launch of the ESG guideline manual is crucial in providing a principal base guide on how to progressively integrate ESG into the strategy of these companies. We, as a Regulator under our mandate in Securities Industry act, we want things to be transparent and fair.”
Deborah Mawuse Agyemfra
Meanwhile, the Ghana Stock Exchange was joined by partners such as: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), African Securities Exchanges Association, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Seven Levers LLP to launch the ESG Disclosures Guidance Manual.
The Manual will guide how listed companies in Ghana and other organisations interested in ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) can collect, analyse, and publicly disclose important ESG information using an approach that meets international standards in sustainability reporting.
