"We are a reliable and sustainable institution, which creates value for society. Therefore, we have to be deliberate and objective in our strategy, and clearly identify where we want to operate and what impact we want to have with our actions. In this sense, we begin a journey to integrate sustainability into all of the bank's strategic and operational decisions, in an integrated, comprehensive, continuous and responsible way", said Luís Teles, CEO of the SBA.
Highlighting that the bank's role in Angolan society "goes far beyond the delivery of financial products and services", Luís Teles presented the SBA's sustainability manifesto, which reflects the "deep sense of responsibility that has always been demonstrated towards employees and customers."
Through the sustainability manifesto, the SBA declares its commitment to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, the Africa Agenda 2063, the Paris Agreement and the Government of Angola's National Development Plan.
The four pillars at the heart of the SBA's sustainability manifesto and strategy are: People and Community; Partnerships; Planet and Sustainable Growth; and Prosperity.
"The year 2023 marked the beginning of the bank's transformation, with the development and approval of our sustainability strategy. We created a specialized unit to lead our sustainability journey, which privileged the initial establishment of the foundations of this journey, with a focus on governance, but also with concrete actions, from an environmental and social point of view", revealed the SBA CEO.
At the event, the SBA's first sustainability report was presented, a document that functions as a communication and transparency channel and management instrument, which closes the initial cycle of the bank's journey to fully integrate sustainability into all strategic and operational decisions.
The sustainability report, which will be published annually, is divided into eight chapters: About the Report; About Standard Bank of Angola; The Vision of Leadership; Pact with Impact on Sustainability; Pact with Impact on Governance; Pact with Impact on Our People; Pact with Impact on Society and the Environment; Methodological Notes.
The data presented in the report highlights, among others, the growth in the number of employees over recent years, with a total of 709 employees being registered in 2023, with a gender distribution of 41 percent women and 59 percent percent of men, as well as the bank's training policy, and last year an average of 26 hours of employee training was recorded, in a total of 20,791 training courses.
When it comes to social and environmental impacts, in 2023, the SBA emitted 319.2 tons of scope 1 CO2 and 394.6 tons of scope 2 CO2, which represents an emissions intensity of 1.01 tons of CO2 per collaborator.
In terms of energy, last year, there was a total of 14,284 GJ of energy consumed, including electricity consumption in the bank's various facilities, fuel in fleet vehicles (diesel and gasoline) and equipment (diesel generators), which represents an electrical intensity of 14 GJ per employee. Water consumption in 2023 corresponded to a total of 8,735 megaliters.
Also noteworthy are the volunteering initiatives promoted by the SBA, as well as the approval of the 'Kwanza por Kwanza' matching donations program, which aims to encourage employees to make donations to social support/development organizations of their choice, with Social Investment Corporate (ISC) to match, within limits defined annually, each kwanza donated by bank employees, thus doubling the impact caused by employees.
Within the scope of the financial inclusion of Angolans, seen as a priority by the SBA, the 'OneFarm' platform, which aims to grant micro-credit to small family farmers, provided in 2023: the granting of 58 micro-credits; the support of 10,800,000 kwanzas to 51 small farmers; the production of 60 tons of agricultural products.
The event also featured the launch of the 'Pacto Com Impacto' website, a new channel that aims to proactively inform employees, customers, partners, suppliers, the community and other interested parties about developments in the bank's social and environmental initiatives.
