A new report has revealed that Nigeria’s leading commercial banks are significantly underperforming in meeting global Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards, recording an average score of just 1.7 out of 10.
The assessment, conducted by the Fair Finance Nigeria (FFNG), the Coalition evaluated four major banks – Access Bank, Standard Chartered, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank—against over 400 international sustainability criteria.
According to a statement from Oxfam, it marks the country’s first comprehensive review of banking sector compliance with global ESG benchmarks.
According to the report titled: “How Are Four (4) Banks in Nigeria Responding to Global ESG Compliance Standards?”, the low score reflects widespread gaps in critical areas such as tax transparency, climate responsibility, and corporate accountability.
The banks scored 0.0 in tax transparency, indicating a failure to disclose country-by-country financial reporting or operations in tax havens, while climate-related performance stood at 0.9, highlighting continued financing of high-emission sectors without credible transition plans.
The report also raised concerns over weak or non-existent commitments to protecting human rights and biodiversity within banks’ investment portfolios and supply chains.
It noted that while the institutions continue to generate substantial profits from high-impact sectors, they are largely avoiding responsibility for the social and environmental consequences of their financial activities.
The coalition attributed the shortcomings partly to outdated regulatory frameworks, particularly the 2012 Nigerian Sustainability Banking Principles, NSBP, which it described as inadequate for addressing current global sustainability expectations.
Calling for urgent reforms, the FFNG Coalition—which includes BudgIT, Policy Alert, CISLAC, CODE, STEPS, and Oxfam—urged key stakeholders such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, and the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria, BDAN, to convene a multi-stakeholder roundtable to overhaul the existing ESG framework.
The group emphasised the need for Nigerian banks to move beyond basic regulatory compliance and adopt robust, transparent, and accountable sustainability practices aligned with global standards.