To provide full information, support investor decision-making and facilitate international comparability to attract capital, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria and NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) is set to organize and host the launch of the first two IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 Standards) by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

The launch will hold at 10:30am at the Nigerian Exchange Group house on Monday June 26, 2023. The event will also feature a keynote address by a market regulator; a three-way fireside chat involving representatives of the FRC, ISSB and NGX RegCo; and a panel of highly experienced persons discussing the Standards and the increasing demand for credible sustainability disclosures as a tool to manage sustainability risks and opportunities and to unlock capital flows.

Furthermore, the Standards will be launched on the same day in other cities around the world, including Santiago, New York, London, and Frankfurt. For now, Nigeria is the only African country that has been selected to launch the IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.

The Standards provide a global baseline of sustainability disclosures that meet the information needs of investors to enable companies to provide comprehensive sustainability information to global capital markets and facilitate interoperability with disclosures that are jurisdiction-specific and/or aimed at broader stakeholder groups.

They are designed to provide the fulsome information, in an appropriate way, to support investor decision-making and facilitate international comparability to attract capital. They are cost-effective, decision-useful, and market-informed disclosure standards developed to help companies report what is required to meet investors’ needs across markets globally.

It will be recalled that NGX RegCo had revealed that there is an adoption readiness strategy mapped out to help accountants and auditors in sustainability and climatic reporting.

Speaking at the recent 3-day virtual workshop on IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards for companies as well as investors in the capital market, the Chief Executive Officer, NGX RegCo, Ms Tinuade Awe said the adoption readiness working group is a creation of the FRC supported by the ISSB where basically a group of people are being put together in order to advise or help the FRC on a roadmap for getting to the adoption of these standards to work in Nigeria.