Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) Guidelines on ESG Reporting

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has launched rules on social impact reporting for firms, underlining ESG’s growing importance. By issuing these rules, the NSE aims at improving and standardizing ESG information reported by listed companies in Kenya. These guidelines provide a granular, tactical approach to ESG reporting that meets international standards on ESG reporting. The guidelines further establish the mandatory ESG reporting topics that companies should incorporate in their report. These topics include the economic impact, social impact and environmental impact of the activities carried out by the company. To capture the details well and be sure of its content, the guidelines recommend for the organization to seek external assurance on information reported on material ESG topics.

The use of external assurance for sustainability reports is advised in addition to any internal resources. External assurances are mainly used to enhance the credibility of the ESG reports. Therefore, organizations are encouraged to seek these services as it creates more confidence in the investors who are interested in the ESG reports. The guidelines acknowledge the principles developed by the United Nations commonly referred to as the United Nations Global Compact. They are mainly classified into four main areas: human rights, environment, labour, and anticorruption. Under each element, there are several requirements that ought to be adhered to during the reporting. Therefore, these guidelines are in tandem with international acceptable standards