Sustainable Development Goals and Listed Multinational Enterprises in Nigeria

Abstract:

Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are global goals developed as successors to the millennium development goals (MDGs) which expired in 2015. SDGs have an all-inclusive agenda to promote progress and provide a habitable environment where people can prosper on the planet - particularly the developing countries. However, some scholars have criticised the achievement of the MDGs in developing countries which in turn has created the concern as to whether the SDGs could be attained. While the focus of these goals is at the national level, it is expected that the private sector should also contribute to the achievement of these goals by aligning their operations and their corporate social responsibility engagements to these goals. Nonetheless, because of the strategic focus and the likely implementation costs of the SDGs, MNEs in Nigeria were assessed as sample tests on the assumption that companies that fall in this category have the capacity to implement the SDGs. This study examined the implementation and disclosure of sustainable development goals in listed Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) operating in Nigeria. All the Multinational Enterprises on consumer goods sector listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as at 31st December 2016 were considered in the study. The method of data analysis was content analysis and secondary data was gathered from the annual reports of the MNEs.