Dangote Cement, Seplat Energy and Airtel Africa have emerged the three top winners of the maiden Corporate Reporting Award, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and NGX Regulation Ltd. (NGX RegCo).

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the award, held in Lagos, recognises the top 30 most capitalised companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) for the 2022 financial reporting year.

The awards underscored both organisation’s shared commitment to fostering transparency, accountability, and international best practices within the private sector.

The evaluation criteria included financial reporting, corporate governance and sustainability reporting.

Dangote Cement secured the top position across all three categories and earned the Platinum Award, alongside the Best-in-Class Award of Excellence in Corporate Governance.

Airtel clinched the gold award, securing the second position and the Best-In-Class Award of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the period under review.

Seplat Energy was honoured with the Silver Award, while also receiving the Best-In-Class Award for Excellence in Sustainability Reporting.

Speaking at the ceremony, the president of ICAN, Dr Innocent Okwuosa, commended NGX RegCo for ensuring better disclosures and reporting among listed companies.

Okwuosa noted that corporate reporting over time had evolved, as there was a shift from a primary focus on financial reporting to the increasing request to incorporate social and environmental disclosures.

He stated that the latter had evolved and had been differently propagated, including but not limited to Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure and of late sustainability disclosures.

The ICAN president added that good corporate reporting must reflect the best elements in corporate governance, financial and sustainability reporting.

Okwuosa highlighted that the maiden edition of the award is limited to 30 companies listed on the NGX for ease of administration, but will be extended to all the listed companies in the future.

In his welcome address, the CEO of NGX RegCo, Mr Olufemi Shobanjo, said that transparency is one of the key drivers of any economy.

Shobanjo stated that transparency ensures full disclosure of information by entities and that such information is easily accessible to members of the public to make informed decisions.

He said: “Over the years, there has been an evolution in the type and quality of information demanded, driven by heightened expectations from investors, decision-makers, and society as a whole.

 “While financial reports remain at the forefront of information required by stakeholders, the concept of ESG considerations has become an area of increasing interest to both public and private sector stakeholders.

Shobanjo attributed this to the interplay between ESG and key issues such as sustainable development, corporate governance, climate change, stakeholder engagement, and community relations amongst a myriad of other issues.

According to him, stakeholders are beginning to demand more accountability, and companies are required to think beyond just profitability.

The NGX RegCo boss noted that companies could do this by expanding their scope to include the ethical impacts that their operations have on the society or communities within which they operate.

He assured that as a self-regulatory organisation, NGX RegCo remains committed to ensuring that the expectations of investors and other stakeholders regarding access to quality information are met.(NAN)