It is Mark Goyder, renowned British author, and governance expert that said, “Governance and leadership are the yin and the yang of successful organisations. If you have leadership without governance you risk tyranny, fraud, and personal fiefdoms. If you have governance without leadership you risk atrophy, bureaucracy and indifference.”
Corporate culture is central to corporate governance, where corporate governance provides the underlying framework for administering the organisation and regulating its internal and external activities. This corporate governance culture is necessary for fostering sustainability within an organisation as it sets the tone for a culture that considers not just the business’ profitability, but its immediate and long-term impacts on other stakeholders. These are the practices which help businesses to form long lasting relationships with customers, media, investors, suppliers and governments; relationships that can see these key stakeholders become their advocates. In the 21st century, it is not enough for a business to be profitable alone. A business must also be able to demonstrate the sustainability of its business model through environmental awareness, ethical conduct in its operations, and a good succession plan.
Sustainability management in Nigeria, measured using economic, social and governance (ESG) performance of businesses – is slowly but surely taking root, particularly at the level of organisation and industry, and one of the industries beginning to feel the impact of corporate governance because of its access to the wealth of third parties, is the insurance industry. Insurance helps protect us and our activities from risks, and as such it would be a tragedy if the companies tasked with protecting us all from these risks are themselves at risk from uncertainties.
In tandem with the rest of the world, Africa is progressively gearing itself towards a brighter future – bar the temporary setback of the coronavirus, with a growing insurance industry that encourages risk planning, creates jobs and growth in capital markets, as well as other financial assets for the development of the economy. The industry enjoys the patronage of the financial services sector under the regulation of the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP) spearheaded by the Central Bank of Nigeria, with its more established counterpart, banks – which have gradually been divested of its ownership of insurance companies.
