One company with extensive expertise in ESG reporting is , the world鈥檚 largest brewer. The company鈥檚 strategy for growth through the digitization of its ecosystem 鈥� which includes 200 breweries, 6 million customers, and over 2 billion consumers, generating over 10 million weekly transactions 鈥� involves a lot of data.

The Right Data

鈥淏rewing requires the best ingredients, which requires a healthy environment. We are an agribusiness. We see the far-reaching implications of climate change in our operations and sourcing regions,鈥� said Ezgi Barcenas, chief sustainability officer, Anheuser-Busch InBev. 鈥淲ith operations in over 50 countries, we鈥檙e looking at many metrics. Just inside our walls, we have 400 operating practices for tracking efficiency, water, energy, maintenance, and sourcing, to name a few.鈥�

Barcenas explained that as the company looks at its supply chain, it must think through the environmental and social impact up- and downstream, from the smallholder farmers down to the half million SMEs that are its customers selling its products around the world, all the mom-and-pop shops as well as the big chains.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of data,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow add all your research and innovation data, security data, and ideas about the future of packaging and logistics. The point is, sometimes you need better data, not more. You need to ask yourself: is this data useful for making decisions? Does it help drive the right actions through the business?”

Another data-heavy company participating in the discussion was Schneider Electric SE, a French multinational specializing in聽digital automation and energy management for buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and industries. By 2025, thanks to its energy and sustainability services and green product innovations, it will have and avoid 800 million tons of CO2.

鈥淲e need to triple our speed to avert climate disaster. Reporting scope 3 emissions is extremely important, because we can only track what we measure and we can only improve if we measure,鈥� said Michael Lofty, senior vice president, Power Products, Schneider Electric. The good news is that about 70% of Schneider Electric鈥檚 revenue already comes from green solutions. The company invests heavily in innovation. 鈥淎ny innovation coming from Schneider Electric is a sustainable offer,鈥� he explained. 鈥淓ach product is more sustainable than the one before it, and metrics are key proof points.鈥�

At Schneider Electric, the main challenge was to get suppliers on board the sustainability journey. The company launched a Zero Carbon Project to help 1,000 suppliers responsible for 70% of its upstream carbon emissions become more sustainable. 鈥淭his is a movement and it鈥檚 a must-have movement, because we are only as strong as our smallest supplier,鈥� said Lofty. The project aims to quantify supplier emissions to establish a baseline and identify key sources of emissions. This enables data-driven prioritization of intervention and road map creation.

ESG Reporting

Most people assume that ESG investing is designed to reward companies helping the planet. According to a by the Harvard Business Review, however, ESG ratings that underlie ESG fund selection are based on materiality, an accounting principle stating that all items likely to impact investors鈥� decision-making must be recorded in detail in a business鈥檚 financial statements using聽.

Some businesses are already linking materiality to their own fortunes and that of the planet. A revealed that a significant minority of respondents say sustainability is already financially material to their businesses and a larger group believes it will be imminent in the near future. Companies like Anheuser-Busch IN Bev and Schneider Electric are finding ways to make that link pay off with the help of data.

鈥淥ne change we鈥檝e seen over the last few years is that investors have a better understanding of which data is material to the business, and they ask more questions around it,鈥� said Barcenas. 鈥淲e鈥檙e increasingly trying to provide more context around our data.鈥�

Providing accurate data is the only way to really demonstrate the impact of the changing world on a company鈥檚 profits and losses. Having one global framework and mandatory reporting would certainly help address the data challenge, but that won鈥檛 happen in the near future.

鈥淲e still need to progress on some of the standards and regulations before we can make them mandatory,鈥� said Gunther Rothermel, senior vice president, head of Sustainability Engineering, 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e need to look at the common denominator underlying the regulations and cover that level first, and then grow this common denominator as the regulations mature and become accepted.鈥�

Companies like 麻豆原创, he said, with products that also need to meet standards, will, at least for now, have to serve numerous frameworks. In the meantime, 麻豆原创 solutions help organizations of all sizes and industries achieve their zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality goals through ESG data transparency across crucial business processes, business networking, and a large ecosystem of partners.鈥�

鈥淲e believe that embedding sustainability at the core of business strategy can help drive operational efficiency, innovation, employee engagement, supply chain resilience, risk mitigation, improved sales, and other strategic business benefits,鈥� said Rothermel.

Having the right data proof points will help companies better understand the return on their sustainability investment (ROSI) and the materiality underlying investor decision-making, resulting in shareholder returns and long-term benefits to the environment and society.

For more information on how 麻豆原创 helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit .

Many people in this region view sustainability as an exported Western and European problem, created elsewhere but unfairly burdening Africa, which has contributed far less to climate change. Specific to countries in the聽, mining, utilities, agriculture, and tourism are among the leading industries grappling with immediate problems such as infrastructure gaps, unskilled workers, crime, and social equity. Rising environmental regulations can pale in comparison.

鈥淥ur customers in Southern Africa are well aware of聽 mandates, and may or may not have plans to meet their goals. Yet they often see people鈥檚 daily survival as a more immediate concern 鈥� and rightly so,鈥� said Cyril Rathogwa, senior solution advisor for Procurement at 麻豆原创 Africa. 鈥淗owever, organizations don鈥檛 have to prioritize sustainability against organizational growth and profitability. Sustainable business will drive economic prosperity.鈥�

Business Network Builds Sustainable Supply Chains

Regardless of a company鈥檚 geographical location, sustainability does not automatically cancel out profits and growth. Indeed, sustainable business operates with the greatest efficiency, connecting data across the organization so people can make more informed decisions, act faster to prevent supply chain disruptions, and keep employees engaged for the highest levels of productivity. It鈥檚 not an either/or choice.

鈥淐onsider the value of a 聽where organizations of all sizes can discover and obtain services from trusted suppliers anywhere, including marginalized communities,鈥� said Rathogwa. 鈥淲ith data transparency, larger companies can identify local trading partners to mitigate risk and potential disruptions along the supply chain. They can also prove compliance with sustainability mandates. These partnerships help smaller suppliers develop their business too, improving the quality of life for people and economic conditions in rural communities.鈥�

Southern Africa Redefines Sustainable Innovation

Just as Africa consists of separate countries with diverse business demands, organizations in Southern Africa approach innovation in different ways. Sustainable business in Southern Africa is centered around innovations to alleviate poverty and build a more inclusive society with educated and employable people who can participate in a digital world with expanded business opportunities. Some financial services companies and telecommunications providers are at the forefront of inspired creativity, bringing digital products and services to previously underserved people in remote, rural communities. Government agencies tend to be focused on automating basic citizen services. It鈥檚 important to meet organizations where they are.

鈥淲e are seeing tremendous innovation from organizations of all sizes that are creating solutions on ,鈥� Rathogwa said. 鈥淭hey can localize offerings for customers based on country-specific sustainability mandates, while gaining exposure for their products and services. This increases their market opportunities with state-owned and private sector enterprises.鈥�

Sustainability鈥檚 Relevancy to Southern Africa

The cascading impact of climate change is palpable everywhere in Africa. The聽聽in South Africa continues to create life-threatening water shortages. Extreme weather like the unusually聽聽that have drenched West and Central Africa this year are affecting millions of people and submerging farmlands with serious consequences for food supplies across the continent, including Southern Africa.

鈥淐arbon taxes alone won鈥檛 address climate change imperatives. We need solutions that help organizations reduce and eliminate carbon emissions in the first place,鈥� said Rathogwa. 鈥淐ommunities need strategies to help people sustain viable livelihoods so they aren鈥檛 driven to poaching animals or polluting the environment as a way to earn a living. This is where technology has a huge role to play.鈥�

One example is 麻豆原创鈥檚 partnership with聽Elephants, Rhinos & People聽(ERP), a non-profit organization that prevents poaching threats by using 麻豆原创 technologies to capture and analyze images from drones and GPS collars on animals. ERP works with poverty-stricken communities that share their land with wildlife. By building sustainable economic engines for rural communities in areas adjacent to threatened species, ERP provides non-lethal alternatives to poaching as a source of community income. Rathogwa pointed out that animals are critical to Southern Africa鈥檚 tourism industry, as well as the quality of the environment for people who live there.

Balancing Economic Survival with Climate Change Urgencies

Carbon emission and other sustainability regulations are all well and good, but only when accompanied by accurate reporting and rigorous accountability.

鈥淐ontrary to assumptions that protecting the environment is somehow a luxury that African industries cannot afford, organizations in SADC need a more holistic approach that balances economic survival in large metropolitan locations with the downstream impact on the environment,鈥� said Rathogwa. 鈥淓ventually sustainability impacts everyone, including people in rural communities. We have so much to protect on this continent that we love.鈥�

For more information on how 麻豆原创 helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit .

Over 1.3 million Nigerians have been displaced by the floods, which have killed at least 600 people, destroyed more than 200,000 homes, and hit 32 out of the country鈥檚 36 states. The floods are the worst for more than a decade and have wiped out crops, disrupted drinking water supplies, and turned capital city Lagos into an island surrounded by floodwaters.

Speaking last month during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, Mai Farid of the fund’s African department warned about the impact of the floods, which have also hit Cameroon and Chad, on transport, food production, and prices.

Farid noted that Nigeria is part of the most food-insecure region, the region most vulnerable to climate change and yet the least prepared. She urged the government to invest in infrastructure and technology to help prevent and mitigate the impact of floods and other climate-related natural disasters in the future: “Rebuilding better is something that countries need to take into account since climate change is not going anywhere and is inevitable.鈥�

Nigeria is Africa鈥檚 most populous country and largest economy. Even before the latest flood, it聽 faced rising food insecurity as a combination of a mostly informal agriculture sector and growing population puts pressure on the country鈥檚 food resources. According to the , food insecurity increased from six percent of the Nigerian population in 2007 to 13.4% in 2017.

The agriculture sector is the largest contributor to the Nigerian economy and聽. However, according to the United Nation (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization, food production in Nigeria is undermined by a number of factors, among them poor planting material and insufficient use of fertilizer, which leads to a growing reliance on food imports.

To help address these issues and support smallholder, the Convention on Business Integrity鈥檚 for-profit arm Innovations Limited, or CBiIL, chose the solution to support 850,000 small maize producers and integrate them into the agricultural value chains.

While West Africa, like Africa as a whole, is still heavily dependent on agriculture, it is home to some of the world鈥檚 fastest growing mega cities like Lagos, so urbanization and the associated environmental issues are top of mind, particularly among young adults.

The region also has a reputation for leap-frogging old technology — first mobile technology and now with cloud computing. In Nigeria itself, the number of mobile phone subscribers is forecast to grow to more than 140 million by 2025 from about 40 million currently.

As Africa鈥檚 largest oil and liquified natural gas (LNG)聽 producer, Nigeria is on the front line of the debate over sustainable development in the West Africa. It is also a key market for 麻豆原创, which counts among its customers Nigeria LNG, which operates six LNG liquefaction units, and Dangote Group, the conglomerate founded and run by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.

The group鈥檚 Dangote Cement unit already publishes an annual sustainability report, part of Aliko Dangote鈥檚聽 personal commitment to build 鈥渁 socially responsible and impactful business that serves all stakeholders.鈥� Dangote is also close to completing the Dangote Refinery, the world鈥檚 largest petroleum refinery capable of processing 650,000 barrels of oil per day. When it comes online, the $20 billion refinery will enable Nigeria to process most of its oil instead of exporting crude to be refined overseas.

鈥淲e are having conversations with Dangote about some of our sustainability solutions and how they measure their impact on the environment,鈥� says Titilayo Adewumi, regional sales director for West Africa at 麻豆原创.

Nigeria LNG is also committed to sustainability and is Africa鈥檚 largest LNG exporter, but has recently been operating well below capacity because of a number of factors, including under-investment in recent years and endemic crude oil theft. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 address this, we will not get out of this quagmire that we are in,鈥� Nigeria LNG Managing Director recently warned Philip Mshelbila. Speaking last month at a conference in Lagos, Mshelbila also acknowledged that the flooding has reduced the gas supplies from the company鈥檚 upstream suppliers, though he said Nigeria LNG鈥檚 facilities remain unaffected and its capacity to produce LPG is intact.

Companies in Nigeria also have to grapple with unreliable electricity supplies and frequent power outages, a problem that business leaders say has led some manufactures to relocate to neighboring Ghana, which has a much more reliable electricity system.

Ghana is the regional leader in addressing plastics pollution and circular economy issues. A groundbreaking between the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), and 麻豆原创 in Ghana is increasing visibility within the plastics supply chain with the hope of benefiting people, companies, and the environment.

The project involves more than 2,000 Ghanaian waste pickers and makes use of an adapted version of 麻豆原创 Rural Sourcing Management to measure the quantities and types of plastic they collect. Data is then analyzed and matched to market-related prices paid throughout the value chain both locally and internationally.

Ghana generates an estimated 1.1 million tons of plastic waste every year, with only five percent collected for recycling. This new pilot project is currently running in several cities across Ghana, with hopes of expanding to the rest of the region and ultimately the continent through the GPAP-Africa Regional Coordination Working Group, which includes 麻豆原创.

Across the region, the bulk of 麻豆原创 customers are choosing cloud solutions rather than on-premise technology and 麻豆原创 seeks to help customers deliver on their climate goals by creating greater efficiency, transparency, and accountability of carbon and emissions across the entire supply chain and innovating new processes and business models.

But 麻豆原创 Africa Managing Director Cathy Smith and other experts caution that while sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are an increasingly important part of the conversation among governments and corporate leaders, it is important to recognize that customers in Africa often have other — perhaps higher — priorities.

In particular, they say business leaders need to be persuaded that sustainability makes good business sense and will ultimately benefit the company, economy, and people.

鈥淲e lead by asking about their business priorities, and then we fold in sustainability,鈥� Smith explains. “It’s just a different approach.”

Paying a High Price

Everyone suffers from climate change, but some regions suffer disproportionately from its negative consequences. Africa contributes only three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the least of all regions. Yet increasing temperatures, extreme droughts, and floods threaten human health and safety, food and water security, and socioeconomic development in Africa.

African leaders meeting recently at the called on their counterparts from wealthier nations to increase funding for projects to help them adapt to climate change. This topic was already addressed at the COP26 meeting last year, where world powers for developing countries to around $40 billion a year by 2025, but .

“If we want our continent to thrive, we have to adapt to climate change — and to achieve this, financing needs to start flowing at scale,” said Ghana President Nana Afuko-Addo at the summit. The African Development Bank has already committed half the amount needed for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, but African leaders are looking for the world’s big CO2 emitters to step in.

These discussions will be the focal topic at the 27th Convention on Climate Change this month in Egypt. With a volatile geopolitical backdrop dominating world dynamics since early 2022, leaders at COP27 have their work cut out to around climate.

In the meantime, businesses can play a key role in improving people’s lives.

Harnessing the Power of People

By 2050, Africa will be home to some of the world’s largest cities, including Lagos and Kinshasa, and a $29 trillion economy. The continent boasts the largest youth labor market in the world and is at the forefront of digitalization and cloud technologies. Tech-savvy young people equipped with the right skills and vision can dramatically impact productivity and sustainability, making education and vocational training vital to success.

While connectivity has improved over the last decade, its reach varies. About 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity, and frequent power outages keep the existing supply unstable. Political, economic, and social instability exist in many countries, but the most significant problem remains the high unemployment rate across the entire continent.

“In a world where one employee may be supporting ten family members, sustainability and compliance to environmental, societal, and governance factors may seem a luxury,” says Cathy Smith, managing director of 麻豆原创 Africa. “African enterprises don’t want their growth to be hampered by restrictions from outside their region. At the same time, they realize the need for greater efficiency, lower costs, and less waste in running their business. It’s common sense.”

Africa is vast and diverse. Whereas some countries like Kenya, Ruanda, and Nigeria have digitally savvy populations striving towards digital transformation, others depend on traditional industries such as mining and oil and gas, where change happens at a slower pace. Small and midsize businesses remain the backbone of most economies on the continent.

Businesses have never been a more critical player in responding to significant global volatility, disruption, and conflict. Still, regional enterprises must develop at their own pace based on their strategic objectives and customer needs.

Understanding Human Needs

Like elsewhere, consumer behavior shifts have impacted the African continent since COVID-19. As opposed to many Western countries, where consumers focus more on sustainability, African shoppers are more concerned with household spending. According to a on South African Consumer Outlook, brand loyalty has weakened as consumers more frequently select the lowest-priced product to meet their needs and budgets.

“It’s very critical for consumer goods companies to ensure their portfolio accommodates the changing circumstances of shoppers,” Smith says. “Our job is not to mandate how those companies manage their green lines. Our job is to help them move beyond disconnected, piecemeal approaches and use technology’s power to build inclusive, sustainable, and resilient value chains.”

That said, shifts in consumer behavior toward sustainability are not impacting Africa. According to by De Beers Group, sustainability considerations are now on par with price and design for consumers when purchasing diamonds. While there is undoubtedly a dark side to how people have acquired their sparkling stones, the upside is that the industry creates high employment levels and contributes significantly to the GDPs of the countries producing them.

As quoted in the report, De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver says the research provides important insights on how sustainability factors influence consumer attitudes toward diamonds. A tipping point is happening: sustainability is no longer a trend; it’s already one of the critical considerations in diamond purchases.

Finding the Right Balance

For business leaders, it is a matter of weighing the pros and cons and finding the right balance to benefit people, profit, and the planet. In addition, government policies need to align all relevant parties. Consistent collaboration among governments, businesses, and partners can help maintain the sense of urgency required to ensure the well doesn’t dry.

This approach will help African enterprises of all sizes in all industries chart a sustainable path for the future.

For more information on how 麻豆原创 helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit .

The sought to discover, among other things, how the motivations and barriers of businesses adopting more sustainable actions are evolving. It comes ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (), which will be held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November, and follows an 2021 sustainability study conducted by 麻豆原创 Insights. The research was based on a survey of over 6,000 businesspeople across 40 countries and 29 industries.

An Evolution in Motivation

While revenue and profit growth, together with company purpose and commitments, were still the top two motivators for companies operating sustainably, customer demand showed a seven-fold increase in importance between the earlier research and the latest. This was the largest change of any motivator and indicates an increase in the strength of customer influence on a business鈥檚 sustainability strategy.

Changing Barriers to Progress

Similarly, there has been an evolution in the barriers to progress. Aside from uncertainty generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year鈥檚 results showed that a lack of funding, incoherent strategies, and difficulty proving the return on investment of sustainable practices were the top barriers preventing businesses from acting on sustainability.

Measuring environmental impact, embedding sustainability into processes, and aligning actions with strategy are barriers that have dropped in importance. The reduced importance of these barriers鈥� points to a maturation of business processes and a better understanding of sustainability.

More Investment to Combat Climate Change

Financially, most companies are planning to increase their investment in addressing issues caused by climate change over the next three years. This year鈥檚 survey also showed that five times more companies are planning to start investing in sustainability compared to last year, whereas the number of businesses planning to decrease their investment fell by 55%.

Shareholders generally support businesses investing in sustainability. Most businesspeople surveyed believe their financial stakeholders are largely tolerant of their business鈥檚 sustainability goals, even at the cost of deferred or reduced profitability.

Strategically Speaking

Businesses are recognizing that operating more sustainably is not just a “nice to do” but a way of creating value (profitability) and differentiation (competitiveness) in the marketplace.

To this end, more businesses 鈥� 86.7% of those surveyed 鈥� say they are using data to inform strategic and operational decision-making.

This could be driven in part by the improvement in the quality of data available thanks to the fact that metrics are maturing, relying less on assumptions and estimates. Companies are also developing more in-house measurement systems. Nevertheless, business leaders said they need more frequent and reliable data with better transparency in terms of the calculations and assumptions used.

鈥淣ow that so many businesses are integrating sustainability into their most important decisions, they can and should demand that sustainability data be as comprehensive and accurate as any other type of data,鈥� says Vivek Bapat, senior vice president for Purpose and Sustainability Marketing and Solutions at 麻豆原创.

People and Accountability

Earlier 麻豆原创 Insights research showed that integrating sustainability into operations was being driven almost solely by the C-suite, but the latest research shows more diversification of responsibility. More sustainability and risk managers are now being held accountable in addition to CEOs and chief sustainability officers. In fact, sustainability managers top the list of employees accountable for embedding sustainability, which fits with the global trend toward companies making more 鈥済reen鈥� hires.

This shared ownership shows companies are integrating sustainability more broadly within their businesses.

鈥淪ustainability must become a talent that everyone within the business shares,鈥� says Bapat. 鈥淭hat will only happen if top management makes sustainability part of how the business defines success so that employees understand why they need to incorporate sustainability into how they think and what they do.鈥�

A Positive Outlook

While challenges around strategy, funding, and data transparency still exist, this research leads us to conclude that businesses are maturing when it comes to embedding sustainability. The survey results suggest that this is because they are sharing accountability, becoming more motivated by their commitments to their customers, and are supported by their investors. They also have access to improved data and are being incentivized by better business outcomes.