Access Bank celebrates 2019 Sustainability Awareness Week
At Access Bank, sustainability principles form the bedrock of all our banking and non-banking activities – Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc.
Sustainability, at Access Bank Plc, is both a key business imperative and a corporate duty of care. Sustainability is intrinsic to the Access Bank brand and strategy, ensuring the bank continuous to innovate, which helps it to maintain its competitive edge and deliver its products and services efficiently.
Access Bank's sustainability strategy is also about supporting global efforts in addressing social, environmental and economic challenges. The bank recognises its moral obligation to align its strategies and operations with certain universal principles that ensure the safety and well-being of the communities where it operates. It also promotes various initiatives to foster social development.
As part of its obligation to be a force for good, Access Bank kicked off its 2019 Sustainability Awareness Week (SAW) on Monday, November 25th. The 2019 edition of the annual initiative, themed ‘Together for a Sustainable Future,' featured five days of events that showcased Access Bank's commitment to sustainability. The activities for the week helped to increase the knowledge and awareness of the bank’s staff and other participants regarding issues surrounding sustainability.
The events that were organized during the 2019 SAW, which rounded off on Friday, November 29th, included workshops for Access Bank's staff and external partners of the bank; the launch of a Digital Idea Wall for sustainability ideas; a therapeutic arts session; and an exhibition showcasing innovative initiatives. According to the bank, one of the objectives of the week-long SAW was to promote a sense of community within the bank and strengthen the commitment and partnership amongst its internal and external partners to drive the bank’s sustainability initiatives.
Global awareness about sustainability cannot be overemphasised. Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year for 2019 is "climate emergency." According to the online dictionaries website, no other word or term captured the mood this year better than
climate emergency, which the website defines as “a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it.”
In fact, my column in the September 2019 edition of Financial Nigeria, titled "The World Is in A Climate Emergency," focused on the term. The aim for writing the article was to bring awareness to the fact that the world is, indeed, at the precipice of an ecological disaster.
The concept of sustainability is concerned with the need to make the world a better place, while also preserving prosperity for future generations. It is about mitigating and adapting to climate change. Sustainability advocacy is about being a part of a movement and community that seeks protection of the environment, promotes social development – including ensuring satisfactory levels of quality of life, health and education for communities. Sustainability also seeks inclusive economic growth that generates wealth for all without damaging the environment.
Although Access Bank recognizes it is in business to make profit, the bank is deliberate in its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint and has encouraged many industry peers to adopt sustainability as a global best practice. In this regard, Access Bank initiated the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles, which has since been implemented by all the banks operating in Nigeria. As a financier, the bank also encourages and influences its clients to improve their sustainability commitments.
According to the bank, part of the aim of the 2019 SAW was to reinforce the bank’s sustainability leadership in Nigeria. The events for the week were designed to ensure all the participants were informed of their individual roles in contributing towards positive development.
“At Access Bank, sustainability principles form the bedrock of all our banking and non-banking activities,” Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, said at the kickoff of the 2019 SAW. “Thus far, our yearly results have validated this approach, as we are now among the top three most profitable banks in Nigeria. This week, we will be celebrating these successes, charging and reeducating our employees on global best practices, while also creating awareness about what needs to be done to achieve the SDGs by 2030,” he added.
At the core of the bank’s sustainability strategy is the drive to promote responsible investing, which entails embedding sustainability factors into finance. Responsible investing has become a bona fide global movement. By investing in projects that support the sustainable development of Nigeria, Access Bank, which is Africa’s largest retail bank, is contributing to the global push for sustainable finance and increasing awareness of sustainability.
Mr. Wigwe also said the Sustainability Awareness Week was an opportunity to celebrate all the successes of the bank and use them as building blocks to achieve better results in the coming years. This was reiterated by Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, Access Bank’s Head of Sustainability, who said the bank would continue to achieve its institutional objectives. “It is important that the sustainability culture is imbibed and practiced by all employees,” said Mrs. VictorLaniyan.
Martins Hile is Executive Editor, Financial Nigeria magazine