Climate governance as a determinant of climate change disclosure quality: Evidence from African listed firms

Climate change disclosure quality is important for assessing how firms identify, manage, and communicate climate-related risks and opportunities, yet evidence on governance mechanisms that support high-quality disclosure remains limited in African capital markets. This study examines the effect of climate governance on climate change disclosure quality among listed firms in nine African countries. Guided by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, disclosure quality is measured using a weighted index of eleven TCFD-aligned disclosures. Climate governance is measured using a composite index of risk management, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and environmental committees, together with executive climate incentives. Data for 137 firms from 2017 to 2025 were collected through content analysis and structured into an unbalanced panel that was analysed using the two-step System Generalised Method of Moments estimator. The results show that climate governance improves disclosure quality. Further analysis shows that CSR and environmental committees improve disclosure quality, while similar evidence is not established for risk management committees and executive climate incentives. The study contributes evidence on the collective and individual effects of climate governance on TCFD-aligned disclosure quality in a climate-vulnerable African context. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening climate governance structures to support higher-quality disclosure.