CLIMATE ACTION
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Urgent climate action is needed to achieve net-zero targets, and businesses must set their carbon reduction targets to keep in line with a 1.5°C pathway. As the world transitions to low-carbon production and consumption, SMEs that have a climate strategy that includes carbon reduction targets and reporting against those targets, are able to compete now and in the future. On the other hand, SMEs are often most vulnerable to climate-related risks. Physical climate risks and damages can result in high financial losses. Climate governance is an important business process as businesses navigate these risks.
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Managing energy consumption translates to reduced emissions and operational costs. Implementing measures to manage energy consumption can help the organisation to identify consumption patterns and potential energy-saving opportunities.
WATER
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
WATER
Water scarcity is a long-term crisis in the making. Particularly due to growth in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, the demand for water is increasing despite its decreasing supply. If water becomes scarce, food security then becomes a challenge that affects all living creatures. The entire business sector needs to make a concerted effort to determine how to conserve our water sources before they are completely depleted.
WASTE
HUMAN RIGHTS
WATER
The processes involved in managing waste (from generation to disposal) can put a strain on the environment and accelerate climate change. Companies would do well to embrace the concept of Circular Economy which seeks to eliminate waste in the product life cycle through restoration and regeneration. With materials being used in a constant flow, there would be less energy consumed, less emissions of harmful gases, and little to no waste generated. All this could translate into cost savings for businesses.
HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Businesses have a social responsibility to protect human rights in all areas of the value chain. When workers’ lives are put at risk of exploitation, unsafe working conditions and other forms of violation in the course of a company’s operations, the company’s reputation and going concern will also be at risk. SMEs as employers of nearly 50% of the employment market must be vigilant to weed out human rights violations and step in quickly with remedial action.
LIVING WAGES
HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Living wages are an important part of empowering the community and eradicating poverty and inequality. Paying employees a living wage would increase their spending power, thereby stimulating the country’s economy. Apart from that, it is just good ethics to pay an employee what they are worth. SMEs employ the largest share of employees and are thus responsible for making sure a large portion of the population make a decent and sustainable living.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY & INCLUSIVITY
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES
The business case for Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity (DEI) is stronger than ever. A diverse pool of talent brings with it a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience that can give businesses a business boost. Companies must treat all employees, regardless of race, creed, ability or preference, with the utmost respect and must have zero-tolerance policies against bullying and discriminatory behaviour. The greater the diversity, the greater the likelihood of outperformance, therefore companies must work to create a safe space for all employees so that they can enjoy the benefits of having a diverse workforce.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES
Corruption stifles business growth and fair competition. Being smaller cogs in the wheel, corruption poses a big threat to SMEs as they typically lack knowledge and resources to put in place effective anti-corruption policies and measures.
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES
SMART REGULATIONS AND POLICIES
Investors will more often make an investment in an entrepreneur they like with an idea they have some reservations about than an idea they like and an entrepreneur they think is a jerk. ABSUC works with entrepreneurs through the African SME Forum to develop on their entrepreneurial journeys. It provides mentoring support and online coaching such as planning stages, pitch deck and answering questions from angel investors. Angels often have tons of questions, and that's a good thing, it's a sign they are considering investing. ABSUC helps entrepreneurs to focus on the conversation and how their investments will move the business forward. By doing this, ABSUC hopes this will result into a vibrant entrepreneur ecosystem in Africa with more young people realising their potential as resources.
SMART REGULATIONS AND POLICIES
SMART REGULATIONS AND POLICIES
SMART REGULATIONS AND POLICIES
Lack of access to finance is consistently cited by SMEs, especially women-owned businesses, as one of the main barriers to growth. Often considered by commercial banks and financial institutions as risky and costly to serve, women-owned SMEs are largely underserved when it comes to basic financial services.
In particular, women outside the formal financial sector, who are the most vulnerable and the hardest to reach, become even more essential. ASFIN works with members, government officials and other regulatory agencies in African markets with the skills to identify, design and implement a policy initiatives to advance women’s financial inclusion, coupled with the skills to spur gender financing and create an enabling environment to advance women leaders within their institutions.
PERFORMANCE RATING
SMART REGULATIONS AND POLICIES
PERFORMANCE RATING
Today there are more than 1,700 ESG-related guidelines and 600+ frameworks, including over 360 different accounting standards, some of which are mandatory and will become mandatory in the future. ABSUC is pioneering a performance benchmarking process to measure and analyze its members' performance of investment products, services, operations, and other business processes against other companies, competitors, or industry leaders in the sustainability ecosystem in other regions. The goal is to help members and non-members identify and understand areas for improvement through monitoring their business activities’ performance.
This process helps companies benchmark and measure several metrics, and customer retention. ABSUC's Performance benchmarking/Ratings provides insights into how other brands compare to one, even if their audience or industry differs.
It helps them track key performance indicators (KPIs) and strategise their operations to achieve business objectives. Performance benchmarking allows them to see how their business pans out against competitors or best-in-class industry standards.
Overall, performance benchmarking allows businesses to:
- Analyze past performance
- Compare their operations against industry standards
- Improve processes, products, and services to increase customer satisfaction, build loyalty, and promote retention
GREEN FINANCE
SMART REGULATIONS AND POLICIES
PERFORMANCE RATING
Climate change is leading to profound changes in the way businesses operate. Especially for SMEs, these changes will accelerate as stakeholders, regulators and competitors respond to the global challenges of climate change. As well as the challenges of capturing and reporting climate-related financed emissions, the focus is now turning to biodiversity restoration reporting.
National regulators and other regional policymakers are calling for the biodiversity impacts of organisations to be quantified and understood. This poses a huge challenge for investors in emerging markets like Africa in terms of collating this data and processing it in a meaningful way. ABSUC works with members, policymakers and partners on how investors and companies are approaching the challenges of investigating and disclosing their impact on the environment and on society.
Recognising that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in the African economies and are also often very vulnerable to the impacts of climate shocks and stresses, building their resilience becomes paramount. Disasters in the region have highlighted the devastating impacts faced by the SMEs. Climate change is a major concern for small and medium-sized enterprises. As per Zurich Insurance Group’s (Zurich) fourth annual global SME survey conducted a year after the Paris Agreement, almost four-fifths (78%) of SMEs surveyed expected risks associated with climate change to have a significant effect on their business.