Nigeria May Lose $20bn in Cocoa Exports over Environmental Issues, Says FRC Boss

James Emejo in Abuja

Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, yesterday said the country was on the brink of losing $20 billion in cocoa exports in the next three years unless it complies with sustainability reporting standards.

Speaking when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce, led by its Chairman, Hon. Ahmed Munir, on an oversight visit to the FRC head office in Abuja, Olowo said the country must deliver on processing and reporting expectations if it must continue to profit on cocoa exports.

He said, “If you don’t pay attention to deforestation and other environmental issues, your products may no longer be competitive. And that is the real issues”.

He said the council’s mission was to bring utmost confidence to investors, ensuring quality in accounting audit, actuarial, valuation, and corporate governance standards among others.

Olowo pointed out that sustainability reporting has implications in the way business are conducted in relation to environment, social and governance standards, adding that “businesses don’t focus just on profit but on the planet as well because without the planet, there will be no business”.

He said the FRC was currently developing the Sustainability Adoption Roadmap that helps to guide and create frameworks for corporate Nigeria and for people to transit from the way they currently report sustainability into ISSB standards.

He noted that though Nigerian companies have till 2028 to fully comply, four firms have emerged early adopters. Companies have till 2026 for voluntary adoption of sustainability reporting.

He also said the council will embark on a lot of capacity building and advocacy within the next two years to further drive adoption.

However, Munir said the visit was to among other things, enable the committee familiarise itself with the operations and policies of the council to identify challenges and areas of collaboration and assistance from the parliament to enable it deliver on its mandate.