Page 49 - ACCESS BANK ANNUAL REPORTS_eBook

This, we have achieved by supporting vibrant and success- ing gap in providing innovative solutions towards averting
ful communities in every market we operate in reducing at least 1 million malaria cases and deaths by 2020. Our
corruption, promoting and protecting human rights and Employee volunteers remained committed to building the
ensuring a healthy and rewarding working environment for communities we serve by implementing strategic commu-
our employees. By facilitating and financing sustainable nity development initiatives that address key issues in the
economic growth, we are leading the way in financial inclu- areas of Sports, Arts, Health, Education, Environment and
sion and education, helping develop enterprises and being Social Welfare.
at the forefront of sustainability regulation and thought
leadership. We continue to increase the efficiency of our Our investment in health also enabled us address key health
operations, by minimizing energy and resource consump- issues including: HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Sickle Cell amongst oth-
tion and mitigating any impacts on our environment. This ers. We were also able to improve our environmental foot-
has helped position us as the leading financial institution in prints through the implementation of more environmen-
sustainability across the nation and in the continent. tal-focused initiatives including the expansion of our waste
recycling initiative, the review of our early shut-down policy
As we draw closer to marking a decade of our sustainabil- and the use of alternative energy in more of our buildings.
ity journey, we remain committed to setting standards for We also took advantage of our local and international part-
sustainable business practices whilst adopting innovative nerships such as – the UNEPFI, CAMA, UNGC etc., to par-
solutions to build a future that is desirable, as we become take in thought leadership initiatives, joining global leaders
the World’s Most Respected African Bank. and leading organisations in shaping the cause for achiev-
ing the global sustainable development goals.
These efforts in different permutations yielded immense
OUR JOURNEY TO SUSTAINABILITY global and local recognition for the Bank – receiving over
14 awards on sustainability in 2017 – emerging as the first
Over the years, Access Bank has evolved into a leader in
sustainability and we are clearly a bank of best practice, hav- African institution to win the Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance
ing created a robust and sustainable business, which our Awards for Outstanding Business Sustainability twice suc-
employees take pride in and our communities can trust. In cessively, becoming a 7-time winner of the World Finance
2008, we established the Sustainability function whilst fully award and becoming the pioneer winner of the first-ever
adopting Employee Volunteering Bank wide. This ushered Sustainability awards of the Central Bank of Nigeria, winning
the Bank into a longstanding commitment to driving im- all categories. These awards and recognitions reaffirm the
pactful sustainable development in communities. In 2010, effectiveness of the Bank’s sustainability strategy in driving
we embedded sustainability into our Corporate Philosophy, the sustainable development of the industry, nation and
ensuring sustainability considerations in all aspects of our the world at large.
business activities and operations.
Driving innovative technology, we emerged as the first fi- STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENTS
nancial institution in Nigeria to deploy a customized Sus-
tainable Finance toolkit, providing technical assistance to In order to ensure that our sustainability policies and strat-
our clients in screening projects to identify potential E&S egies address key issues that are material to our stake-
risks. By 2012, we initiated the process, and partnered with holders, we ensure that our stakeholders are effectively
relevant stakeholders in the banking industry to develop the engaged in order to identify and understand the issues
Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP) – a set of 9 that are material to them. Our priority stakeholders are our
principles that provide guidance for the entire industry to- employees, customers, investors, regulators and commu-
wards driving sustainable development in the industry. Fur- nities. In engaging, we communicate the Bank’s strategies
thermore, we developed the NSBP portal within the Bank and policies through different channels. We communicate
– an innovative tool that enables the Bank to track, monitor these policies and strategies to our customers through dai-
and manage data on its CO2 emissions more effectively. ly interactions at our branch offices, on our website, through
These initiatives have enabled us achieve significant prog- customer surveys, events, meetings and business forums,
ress in our sustainability journey, empowering us to stand periodic publications like the customers digest and other
out as leaders in sustainability within the banking industry. publications, social media, discussions and focus groups.
In 2017, we continued to respond to the material issues We also communicate these policies and strategies to our
raised by our valuable stakeholders, which guided our stra- shareholders through our annual reports and accounts,
tegic goals and objectives for the year, by developing and public announcement of quarterly results, Annual General
implementing innovative interventions and initiatives that Meetings (AGMs), shareholder association meetings and
effectively addressed key social, environmental and eco- non-deal roadshows. We communicate our sustainability
nomic issues within our communities and beyond. Our policies and strategies to our suppliers through e-mails and
Malaria-to-Zero initiative continued to address the fund- letters, forums, events and exhibitions, visits to their busi-
ness sites etc. To our communities, we communicate our

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Annual Report & Accounts 2017