Purpose: Reporting on only the financial performance of an organisation is no longer the focus of reporting because, gradually, investors and other stakeholders demand that companies also report on their effect on the environment and the society. Accounting and reporting for the environment has, therefore, increasingly become important to stakeholders and organisations because the effect of an organisation’s environmental and social performance on its financial health. The purpose of this study is to examine the extend of voluntary green accounting practice of companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on content analysis of 202 annual reports of 23 listed firms in Ghana, from 2006 to 2015. Findings: The mining, oil and gas sector has integrated environmental sustainability information in their accounting system. With regards to the nature of green disclosure, the content analysis depicts that only positive qualitative disclosures were provided in the annual reports. Again, almost all the companies increased the quality and quantity of environmental disclosures over the years. Practical implications: The service and manufacturing sectors should integrate environmental sustainability information in their accounting system. This, in turn, may enhance their legitimacy to access critical resources for survival. Originality/value: This study contributes to the green and social reporting practices literature from Ghana, a sub-Sahara Africa country.

Purpose: This study investigated the influence of institutional environment on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) accounting practices of banks in West Africa. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the size of an economy and the governance structure of a country is relevant for ESG accounting practice.Design/methodology/approach: The study applied content analysis on 602 annual reports of 67 banks in 5 countries in West Africa. A generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation technique was used for the regression analysis.Findings: The evidence showed that GDP has a positive and insignificant relationship with ESG reporting, suggesting that the size of an economy is not relevant for ESG accounting. The study further found that Corruption Perception Index has a positive and significant relationship with ESG accounting. This result implies that a country’s political environment is germane for ESG accounting. Firm-specific factors, such as firms’ size, value and age have positive and significant relationships with ESG accounting while net profit margin and leverage have negative relationships with ESG accounting. The study concludes that a country’s institutional environment influences the ESG accounting practices of its firms.Practical implications: The governments of countries in West Africa must lay an enabling political and economic foundation to improve the accounting practices of firms, which is a critical factor for attracting investments.Originality/value: The study contributes to the ESG accounting literature in developing countries which is found to be scarce.

Despite banks not having any significant direct negative impacts on the environment and society, they adopt environmental, social and governance (ESG) accounting. Meanwhile, ESG reporting consumes additional resources and exposes firms’ strategies to competitors. The study employed a legitimacy theory to investigate the impact of ESG reporting on the financial sustainability of banks in Ghana. The study relied on 10 years of annual reports of all the banks in Ghana. The banks’ ESG reporting practices were assessed based on a content analysis method. The financial sustainability was measured based on return on assets (ROA) and net interest margin (NIM). Evidence showed that environmental reporting (ERI) impacted the banks’ NIM and ROA inversely and significantly, whilst governance reporting had a positive but insignificant relationship with NIM and ROA. The result further demonstrated that social reporting (SRI) impacted NIM and ROA positively and significantly. The overall ESG reporting had a negative and significant relationship with the banks’ financial sustainability. Hence, the ESG reporting did not improve the financial sustainability of banks, and banks in Ghana have less of an incentive to report on ESG as opposed to banks in other countries, where such reporting generally makes financial sense.

Purpose: Given the significant role of both integrated reporting and cost of capital in the survival and prosperity of a firm, it is essential to understand their relationship by investigating whether integrated reporting influences the cost of capital of a firm. This research paper aims to examine the impact of integrated reporting practice on the cost of capital of listed firms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Design/methodology/approach: The study covered a period of 10 years from 2009 to 2018. One hundred and forty-seven listed firms in 10 SSA countries were used for the study. The study employed panel data analysis and utilised a dynamic estimation technique called the generalised method of moments.Findings: The evidence shows that integrated reporting has a negative relationship with cost of capital, indicating integrated reporting can reduce firms' cost of capital. The results further showed that social, governance and environmental disclosures all have negative relationships with cost of capital, suggesting that firms that make these disclosures would have a lower cost of capital. These results are consistent with signalling theory, which holds that firms send a positive signal to the market about their performance and prospects when they provide information relating to value creation, predominantly environmental, social and governance issues.Research limitations/implications: The major limitation of the study is the selection of only English-speaking countries. French-speaking countries may have a different reporting practice, hence a different effect on the cost of capital.Practical implications: This study contributes to policy development on integrated reporting in SSA and informs key stakeholders involved in promoting and supporting the adoption of integrated reporting in Africa.Originality/value: The findings from this paper consolidate existing research in integrated reporting and cost of capital by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between integrated reporting, its components and the cost of capital from emerging economies. This study contributes to the understanding of investors' reactions to integrated reporting. Further, it fills a gap in the non-availability of literature on the relative impact of the various components of integrated reporting.

The role of institutional investors in shaping corporate governance among banks attracted attention following the collapse of seven banks in Ghana. The study thus investigates the impact of institutional investors on corporate governance practice and performance of commercial banks in Ghana. Both corporate reporting and audit qualities are used as measures of corporate governance whilst Return on Assets (ROA) is used as a measure of performance. Thirty-two commercial banks in Ghana are used for the study. The annual reports of the banks from 2012 to 2016 provided the data for the study. System GMM is employed to estimate the impact of institutional investors on corporate governance practice of the banks. The research evidence shows that institutional investors influence the quality of corporate reporting and auditing of the banks in Ghana. The results further suggest that institutional investors impacts on the ROA of the banks.