Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given public companies and significant public interest capital market operators until October 15, 2026, to submit plans for adopting the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
The directive was contained in a circular dated September 23, 2026, issued under the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025.
The mandatory sustainability reporting for public interest entities is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2028.
The SEC is requiring each covered entity to submit an implementation plan outlining how it intends to adopt IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, as well as the challenges it expects to face during implementation.
The SEC said it will continue engaging regulated entities and monitoring compliance with the timelines as part of its oversight of financial reporting and corporate governance.
The SEC’s circular relies on the FRCN’s roadmap for adopting the standards, which provides for a phased transition from voluntary to mandatory sustainability reporting.
The roadmap for mandatory reporting by public interest entities by 2028 was launched with NGX Group, the FRC and the ISSB. The Nigerian Stock Exchange, now NGX, had also released its own sustainability disclosure guidelines in 2019.
Readiness for the sustainability reporting requirements has been uneven across sectors, as Nairametrics had earlier reported.
The SEC’s latest requirement therefore places greater emphasis on individual company preparedness ahead of the 2028 mandatory reporting deadline.
The October 15 deadline covers both listed companies and significant public interest capital market operators, including entities that facilitate clearing, settlement, trading or data functions in the market.
This means market infrastructure providers face the same submission deadline as listed issuers under the SEC directive.
The covered market infrastructure operators include, but are not limited to:
The plans must also state the expected year of first sustainability reporting, tied to the FRCN Roadmap.
