CIMA Africa-Wide Community

Sustainability has become a strategic priority for organisations across the world. From climate-related risks and social impact to governance and ethical leadership, businesses are increasingly expected to demonstrate that sustainability is embedded within their long-term strategy rather than treated as a compliance exercise.

As finance professionals, we are uniquely positioned to influence this agenda. We help shape strategy, allocate capital, measure performance, manage risk and report on value creation. Yet this raises an important question:

How effective are we really at setting up and implementing sustainability strategies within our organisations?

Many organisations have developed sustainability policies, ESG frameworks and reporting processes. However, implementation often proves far more challenging than strategy development. Common obstacles include:

• Limited integration between sustainability objectives and business strategy.
• Difficulty translating high-level ambitions into measurable operational actions.
• Insufficient ownership across business functions.
• Challenges in defining meaningful KPIs and measuring impact.
• Balancing short-term financial performance with long-term sustainable value creation.

Perhaps one of the biggest questions is whether sustainability is genuinely influencing business decisions or whether it remains a reporting requirement driven by external stakeholders.

As finance leaders, we are increasingly expected to move beyond reporting historical financial performance and help organisations understand how environmental, social and governance factors create-or erode-long-term value.

I'd love to hear from fellow members:

• How mature is your organisation's sustainability strategy?
• What have been your biggest implementation challenges?
• Has finance played a leading role, or has sustainability remained within a separate function?
• What practical steps have made the greatest difference in embedding sustainability into everyday decision-making?
• How are you measuring success beyond simply meeting reporting requirements?

I believe the next few years will distinguish organisations that have integrated sustainability into the way they operate from those that have simply documented good intentions. Sharing our experiences may help all of us bridge the gap between strategy and execution.

I look forward to hearing your perspectives.