International Journal of Management and Allied Research (IJMAR)

ESGE DISCLOSURE AND FINANCIAL DISTRESS OF LISTED NON-FINANCE FIRMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Authors

  • Okoye, Henry Onyebuchi Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Management Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
  • Prof. Tochukwu G. Orji-Okafor Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Management Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of ESGE reporting on financial distress of listed non-financial firms in Sub-Saharan Africa from (2012-2021). Four research questions and four corresponding hypotheses were developed for the study. An ex-post facto research design was employed. The population of the study included all non-financial firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Nairobi Stock Exchange as of December 31, 2022. The study employed a simple filtering technique to select the sample because firms were included in the sample on certain selection criteria. The final sample size consists of 76 non-finance firms in Nigeria, 149 non-finance firms in South Africa, and 24 non-finance firms in Kenya. Thus, the sample size of this study was 282 listed non-finance firms in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. The study relied on secondary sources of data obtained from annual reports of sampled companies as provided by individual companies and the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) website. Amongst other preliminary analyses and tests, fixed effect regression analysis was performed to validate the hypotheses. The study found that environmental reporting has a significant positive effect on the financial distress of listed non-finance firms in Sub-Saharan Africa when measured in terms of the Altman Z-score during the period under review.  The study also found social reporting to have a significant negative effect on the financial distress of listed non-finance firms in Sub-Saharan Africa when measured in terms of Altman Z-score during the period under review. Governance and economic reporting have an insignificant negative effect on the financial distress of listed non-finance firms in Sub-Saharan Africa when measured in terms of Altman Z-score during the period under review. Consequent to the findings emanating from the analysis, the study therefore recommended, among others, that insufficient disclosure of green environmental issues be addressed by environmental regulatory bodies working in tandem with governments to establish a green information disclosure standard

Keywords:

Environment, Social, Governance, Economy, Sub-saharan Africa, Altman’s Z-score

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Published

2024-03-07

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10787567

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 2 (2024): February

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Okoye, H. O., & Orji-Okafor, T. G. (2024). ESGE DISCLOSURE AND FINANCIAL DISTRESS OF LISTED NON-FINANCE FIRMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. International Journal of Management and Allied Research (IJMAR), 15(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10787567

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Copyright (c) 2024 Okoye, Henry Onyebuchi, Prof. Tochukwu G. Orji-Okafor

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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