UNGC, CBi unveil corporate governance project for SMEs

The Integrity Organisation/Convention on Business Integrity (CBi) and the United Nations Global Compact Network Nigeria (UNGC-NN), in partnership with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), have announced the launch of a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Anti-Corruption and Corporate Governance Standards Project (SME Future-Forward Project), funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

This project aims to set standards for corporate governance, ethics, and sustainability to guide the direction, control, and management of SMEs in Nigeria, enhance their competitiveness, and achieve long-term success and value creation responsibly and sustainably.

“Our ambition is to mobilise a local movement of sustainable businesses and scale their collective impact. Essentially, this project will positively influence SMEs’ behaviour towards adopting more responsible and sustainable practices,” said Naomi Nwokolo, executive director, of UN Global Compact Nigeria.

According to her, the UN Global Compact Network Nigeria stimulates and facilitates the creation of local connections and serves as a catalyst for Nigerian companies and stakeholders to achieve Agenda 2030 thereby improving the lives of future generations.

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The United Nations Global Compact Network Nigeria is one of the 74 local networks (country offices) of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

Guided by the Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption; and the 17 SDGs, we support businesses and stakeholders in understanding what responsible business means within a global and local context and provide guidance to translate sustainability commitments into action.

It is estimated that SMEs constitute about 96 percent of businesses in Nigeria. These enterprises are largely poorly governed, making it difficult to secure the capital needed for growth. Moreover, Nigeria’s challenging business environment creates pressures to adopt practices where complacency, shortcuts, corruption, nepotism, and discrimination flourish.

Using a data-driven approach, CBi, UNGC-NN, and FRC will, through this project, develop a replicable and scalable framework to enhance good corporate governance (anti-corruption, sustainability, and social equity inclusive) practices that would lead to a value-creation strategy for all SMEs in Nigeria and increase their competitiveness, survival, growth, and succession.

Given the pivotal role SMEs play in driving Nigeria’s economic development, poverty reduction, job creation, economic emancipation, and overall well-being, the project seeks to prove that it is possible, and profitable for small businesses to do the right things, the right way, in the Nigerian marketplace.

Founded in 1999, the Integrity Organisation/Convention on Business Integrity has worked to promote ethical business practices, transparency, and fair competition in the private and public sectors.