Economic sustainability practices and financial performance of largest listed companies in Sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose This study aims to investigate how economic sustainability practices affect financial performance among the largest listed firms in Sub-Saharan Africa. While prior studies have explored sustainability disclosures and environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators within single countries or sectors, few have examined a broad range of economic sustainability metrics such as value creation, input intensity, procurement efficiency, market share (MAS), company size (CS) and tax compliance using a multi-country sample. This study fills that gap by analyzing 115 firms drawn from Nigeria's Nigerian Exchange Limited 50, South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange Top 40 and Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange 25 indices over 15 years. Design/methodology/approach Firm performance is measured by return on assets (ROA) and Tobin's Q, while economic sustainability variables include economic value added (EVA), market share, raw material/input intensity, procurement cost and CS. The study employs panel-corrected standard errors to address heteroskedasticity, serial correlation and cross-sectional dependence. Findings Results reveal that EVA and MAS positively and significantly influence both ROA and Tobin's Q, indicating that value creation and competitive positioning enhance profitability and investor valuation. Input intensity and procurement cost show weak or negative effects, implying potential inefficiencies. Firm size negatively affects both performance measures, suggesting diseconomies of scale, while tax compliance positively influences Tobin's Q, highlighting market rewards for legitimacy and compliance. Originality/value This research contributes novel cross-country evidence from African capital markets, demonstrating that certain economic sustainability practices strengthen financial outcomes. It provides valuable insights for managers, regulators and investors on aligning sustainability with financial performance in emerging economies.