Financial institutions and sustainability reporting: evidence from a Sub-Saharan African country

Purpose To examine the extent of sustainability reporting and the relationship between reputation, government ownership, foreign ownership, board size, board gender diversity and the extent of sustainability reporting by financial institutions in Ghana using the concept of Africapitalism and stakeholder theory. Design/methodology/approach Annual and sustainability-related reports of 67 financial institutions in Ghana from 2019 to 2021 were analysed using content analysis and robust panel data analysis. Findings The extent of sustainability reporting by financial institutions in Ghana is very low. The environmental and energy-related items are the least disclosed. Reputation, government ownership, and foreign ownership have a significant positive relationship with the extent of sustainability reporting. Board size and board gender diversity did not show any significant relationship with the extent of sustainability reporting. Furthermore, the impacts of the determinants vary across the respective dimensions of the sustainability index. Research limitations/implications Many financial institutions were excluded from the study due to unpublished annual reports and inactive websites. Practical implications Corporate governance tools and firm features alone cannot improve sustainability reporting. Strong regulations are needed to improve the level of reporting. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, the study is the first to apply the Africapitalism concept to examine African firms' sustainability reporting. It thus contributes to developing this theory and the decolonisation of sustainability research. It also extends the literature on sustainability reporting of unlisted financial institutions, especially in emerging economies.