Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) won the Gold Award at the 13th edition of the Financial Reporting (FiRe) Awards.
According to the FiRe Awards evaluators, the SUHL report captured the entity’s clear focus on sustainable growth as well as achievements against Environmental Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) commitments.
SUHL won two other awards at the FiRe Awards and received two certificates of recognition, as follows:
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Corporate Governance Award: winner
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Commercial Banks category Award: 1st runner up
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Sustainability Award: Certificate of Recognition
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Best listed entity Award: Certificate of Recognition
SUHL has won the Gold Award six times now: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023. They beat 99 organisations who submitted their annual reports for evaluation in the 2023 FiRe Awards.
In second position came the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) who scooped the silver award for providing a compelling value creation story which linked its strategic value drivers to its business model, key priorities, and strategic outcomes.
PostBank won the bronze award. The PostBank report had excellent coherence and connectivity that gave readers a powerful account of the core operations of the entity.
The theme for the 2023 FiRe Awards was, ESG: Reporting as brand storytelling.
“The winners of the top 3 awards were selected based on the extent of connectivity of information resulting in a holistic, comprehensive, and coherent annual report, in line with the theme,” said CPA Stephen Ineget, the Chairperson of the FiRe Awards committee.
The chief guest, Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament underscored the significance of financial reporting in Uganda’s development.
“Uganda grapples with budget financing, and one of the ways that we can address this is through discipline, and clear financial reporting,” noted Hon. Tayebwa.
“If there is compliance in business reporting, that can assist us to widen the tax base and that can help us to reduce on the borrowing and focus more on the critical items that we allocate money to,” the Deputy Speaker added.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) commended listed companies for consistent performance in financial reporting.
“I must commend our listed companies for always taking the lead in their financial reporting, raising the bar every year and ensuring that investors and stakeholders get relevant information about their companies, the leadership and the future of the investments they are undertaking,” said Mr. Paul Bwiso, the CEO of USE.
In his remarks, the CEO of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Mr. Keith Kalyegira emphasised the significance of ESG in society.
“By reporting on ESG, organisations are not just disclosing data, they are narrating their commitment to making a positive impact on society and the environment,” he said.
The 2023 FiRe Awards was held on 1 November 2023 at the Kampala Serena Hotel, and it attracted 100 entries. FiRe Awards is organised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), in partnership with the Capital Markets Authority, the Uganda Securities Exchange and New Vision. The Awards were introduced in 2011 to enhance the quality of financial and business reporting in Uganda by encouraging the implementation of financial reporting standards as well as best practices in financial and business reporting.
ICPAU president CPA Josephine Ossiya noted the challenge of limited participation, and urged regulators to encourage their members to participate in the Awards.
“One of the big challenges an economy faces is poor reporting of business performance which cripples a number of business transactions and thus slows the growth and development of an economy, therefore, we need to all rise up and promote good financial reporting in the country through full utilisation of the accountancy professionals in the country,” she said.
Click here to view the full list of winners.
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