By Benjamin Adamafio Commey, GNA
Accra, Oct. 27, GNA – Professor De-Graft Owusu-Manu, President of Green Communities International, has called on African countries to develop their own Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) and sustainability standards to reflect the continent’s realities and development priorities.
He said the continued reliance on externally developed standards to assess the performance of African businesses, infrastructure and institutions undermined the continent’s ability to determine appropriate benchmarks for sustainable development.
Prof. Owusu-Manu, who is also the Chair of the International Organising Committee of the International Conference on Environmental, Social, Governance and Sustainable Development of Africa (ICESDA), said African countries must take ownership of the systems used to measure their environmental, social and governance performance.
“Africa is tired of imported ideas, imported knowledge, imported goods and imported services,” he said.
Prof Owusu-Manu made the call at the third ICESDA, held at Pentecost University in Accra, on the theme: “The Africa We Want: Driving Transformational and Inclusive Green Growth through ESGs and Digitalisation.”
The two-day conference, organised by Green Communities International in collaboration with Pentecost University and other partners, brought together stakeholders from academia, industry, government and other sectors to explore practical approaches to sustainable development and inclusive green growth.
Prof. Owusu-Manu said African businesses and institutions were increasingly required to demonstrate compliance with environmental and sustainability standards to access loans, insurance, investment and international markets, although the standards were often developed without sufficient consideration of African conditions.
He cited the built environment as an example, explaining that building performance and other sustainability assessments relied heavily on standards developed outside the continent.
“If we want to measure our buildings, we use imported standards, and it is about time we started developing our own,” he said.
He said the conference was deliberately designed to bring relevant stakeholders together to develop appropriate ESG matrices for different sectors of the African economy, including infrastructure, digital technology, agriculture, agribusiness, business and financial systems, and energy and climate.
The objective, he said, was to move beyond discussions on sustainability to establish practical measurement frameworks that could inform policies, guide business practices and support the development of legislation suited to African countries.
Prof. Owusu-Manu said the absence of locally developed standards created challenges for businesses, particularly those in the banking and financial sectors, which were increasingly required to submit sustainability reports aligned with international frameworks.
He said developing African standards would not mean disregarding international requirements but would enable the continent to determine how its sustainability performance should be assessed while remaining competitive globally.
The third edition of ICESDA focused on advancing Africa’s green transformation by integrating ESG and sustainability principles with digitalisation to support sustainable economic growth.
The discussions were organised around thematic areas covering the built environment and engineering, digital infrastructure and technology, agriculture and agribusiness, business and financial systems, and energy, climate and urban development.
Prof. Owusu-Manu said the programme featured plenary sessions involving more than 18 keynote speakers, followed by panel discussions examining the major thematic areas.
The conference also featured scientific research presentations, with about 116 peer-reviewed papers scheduled for presentation by researchers, academics and young scientists.
He said a key innovation in the third edition was the introduction of syndicate workshops, which would allow participants to build on the outcomes of the panel discussions and contribute directly to developing recommendations.
The workshops were intended to ensure that the conference produced tangible outcomes rather than ending with discussions and academic presentations.
“We don’t come to a conference and not produce anything,” he said, explaining that the initiative was intended to generate proposals that could inform parliamentary deliberations and legislation on ESGs and sustainable development.
He said the process would help translate research and stakeholder contributions into practical policy recommendations for consideration by relevant institutions.
Reflecting on the ICESDA, Prof. Owusu-Manu said the conference had made significant progress in improving access to sustainability research and creating platforms for African scholars to contribute to the development of ESG knowledge.
He said one of the major achievements was the introduction of a simplified publication format that translated peer-reviewed academic papers into language that ordinary readers could understand.
He explained that although academic publications were important for advancing knowledge, their technical language often made it difficult for the people and communities expected to benefit from research findings to understand and apply them.
To address the challenge, he said, the organisers introduced ESG Times, a publication that presented research findings in a more accessible format.
He said the initiative was helping to bridge the gap between academic research and public understanding by making sustainability knowledge available beyond the academic community.
ICESDA began in 2024 at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and held its second edition in 2025 at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration before moving to Pentecost University for the third edition.
He said the experience gained from the previous conferences had informed the expanded programme and the introduction of mechanisms to ensure that the discussions generated practical outcomes.
He urged stakeholders across the various sectors to contribute to the process, stressing that sustainability required collective commitment and action.
He said ESGS should not be treated merely as a reporting requirement but as a commitment to protecting the environment, improving social outcomes and promoting responsible governance.
He expressed the hope that the conference would strengthen cooperation among African stakeholders and lay the groundwork for measurement frameworks that would support evidence-based policymaking, responsible investment and inclusive economic growth.
Reverend Professor Kwabena Agyapong-Kodua, Vice-Chancellor, Pentecost University, highlighted the importance of integrating sustainability principles into education, explaining that young people must be prepared to address pressing challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, energy insecurity and rapid urbanisation.
He said equipping the youth with scientific and technological knowledge would enable them to develop locally relevant solutions while positioning African countries to compete more effectively in the global economy.
He called on universities, governments, the private sector and development partners to work together to bridge the skills gap among young people and prepare them for emerging opportunities in the global economy, urging higher education institutions to move beyond traditional academic training and place greater emphasis on practical, research-driven and industry-relevant programmes that respond to Africa’s development priorities.
Rev. Prof. Agyapong-Kodua explained that strengthening technical and vocational education, promoting innovation and encouraging entrepreneurship would help young people develop the competencies needed to create jobs and contribute to national development.
He called on stakeholders to adopt a coordinated approach to youth development, ensuring that educational policies and investments translate into meaningful employment opportunities and improved livelihoods.
He added that empowering young people with the right skills would not only support economic growth but also strengthen Africa’s capacity to achieve its ESG objectives and advance sustainable development across the continent.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Benjamin Adamafio Commey
Email: [email protected]