ESE USES INVESTMENTS FOR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Mbabane - The Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) will use its investments to address social and environmental issues in the country.

This was mentioned by Professor Mike Matsebula the Chairman of ESE Board yesterday. Matsebula said ESE aims to have a positive environmental or social impact. He said ESE will use its investments to help address social and environmental issues like climate change, hunger, poverty and HIV/AIDS.

Concept

“I wish to indicate that the ESG approach is perfectly consistent with the concept of Impact Investing (II). “Businesses involved in II allocate assets towards goods and services that bring about positive social impact. It can create significant value for investors and society as a whole. “Let me highlight some key characteristics of II,” he said. Matsebula added that Environmental Social governance (ESG) approach delivers a financial return on capital investment. It is foremost a business activity and, therefore, expected to yield a financial return on capital. He said it spans a broad range of sectors and regions. It is inclusive across asset classes, from cash equivalents and microfinance to private equity and clean technology. The chairman also mentioned that it measures social/environmental impact regularly and reports the social and environmental performance of existing investments to ensure transparency and accountability as well as inform potential investors. “We interrogated it, distinguished it from other forms of reporting (such as Integrated Reporting) and determined its value for ESE – especially for listed entities together with their stakeholders,” he said.

Sessions

Matsebula added that they we were fortunate to go through sessions led by consultants from SNG & Grant Thornton. He said the consultants took them through the guideline and convincingly illustrated the value-add in the short, medium and long-term for entities, which embrace the ESG principles. He said ESE management played a crucial facilitative role throughout the whole process.  “For this, we would like to commend them highly.” Matsebula also mentioned that studies have shown that over three decades, since the environmental consciousness movement began, companies, which have applied ESG principles, experienced an additional significant return on their investments.

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