CSR-In-Action

West Africa’s foremost sustainability advocate and social enterprise, CSR-in-Action (CiA), has re-launched its flagship reports on corporate responsibility, the Collective Social Investment Report (CSIR) and the Corporate Citizenship Index (3C-Index), in partnership with global consulting firms, Accenture and Ernst & Young (EY).

The new knowledge partnerships entail Accenture and E&Y, two of the most renowned international consulting firms, reviewing and subsequently assuring the framework for CSIR and 3C-Index - the premier and leading publications on ethics and corporate social responsibility in Nigeria – to international standards and indices such as the FTSE 4 Good and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

The CSIR is a compendium and one-stop data bank for sustainable practices by organisations in Nigeria with greater focus on the private sector, while the 3C-Index is West Africa's premier rating of companies according to their approach to the ethics of socio-economic and environmental governance. CSIR was first launched in 2012, while the 3C-Index debuted in 2013.

According to the Executive Director of CSR-in-Action, Bekeme Masade, partnerships are ever more crucial to the organisation’s success this year, as she urged more companies to respond to CiA’s quest for information in a more timely manner.

“Our approach to stakeholder engagement and management is so much more sophisticated that we expect more robust data. We are especially excited that we have garnered the support of such reputable knowledge partners as Ernst & Young and Accenture; their managing partners have shown why these companies have remained relevant and signify integrity in today's world,” Bekeme added.

Accenture Nigeria Country Managing Director, Niyi Yusuf, expressed his excitement on the partnership. “Our views about sustainability are well documented and Accenture on its own has been measuring its sustainability efforts based on the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact annually. For over 5 years, we have worked with the United Nations Global Compact to explore top CEO views on the future of corporate sustainability, and the role that the UN can play over the next decade in helping them shift from strategy to execution. The two published studies are the largest surveys of their kind involving over 1000 CEOs from 103 countries in 27 industries. A similar study is underway for CEO's in Africa to identify the sustainability value drivers and showcase leading case studies from across the continent.

“We are currently the knowledge provider on Green Growth to World Economic Forum's Business 20 task force which advises the G20. Therefore, providing knowledge support to CiA on this project came naturally for us as an imperative. By publicising the footprint of each company in terms of their investment in sustainability, CSR-in-Action is amplifying the mantra that what gets measured gets acted on in the marketplace. This is good for the business itself, its community, the nation and Africa as a whole," he said.

On his part, Ernst & Young’s Managing Partner for West Africa, Henry Egbiki, noted: "Sustainability reporting has been an area of focus for us at EY, as it aligns perfectly with our purpose of 'building a better working world'. In the words of Professor Bob Eccles of Harvard Business School 'Financial reporting created the markets we have today.  Integrated reporting will create the society we want to have tomorrow'. Our Global CEO and Chairman, Mark Weinberger has taken a strategic position on it by joining the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)'s Board."

He added, "Within the region (Africa) EY has been conducting the EY excellence in Sustainability Reporting Awards since 2005, a survey which involves the Top 100 JSE listed companies and the top 10 state owned companies in South Africa. We have also worked closely with other stock exchanges in Zimbabwe, and Mauritius on various initiatives from setting up sustainability index to adopting integrated reporting as listing requirements. A Global sustainability leaders survey of brands carried out by Verdantix, an authority on Sustainable business, corroborated our dominance in the sustainability space ahead of other Big-Four firms. I am confident that is why CSR-in-Action has chosen to work with us. We aim to provide as much guidance to this process to ensure that both CiA and participant companies are satisfied with the outcomes.”

The CSIR and 3C-Index reports have been recognised as benchmarks for corporate social responsibility in Nigeria and good governance across industry. The knowledge support by Accenture and E&Y is further proof of the wide acceptance of the reports as benchmarks by the corporate world, while opening new chapters in CiA’s advocacy and reporting functions.

-WorldStage