SEPLAT ENERGY URGES FIRMS TO MAKE SUSTAINABILITY A RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL

Businesses have been urged to move beyond treating sustainability as a corporate social responsibility activity and instead integrate it into their core strategy, operations and decision-making.

The Director of External Affairs and Social Performance at Seplat Energy Plc, Chioma Afe, made the call at the 2026 Sustainability Conference of the Sustainability Professionals Institute of Nigeria in Lagos.

Speaking on the theme, “The Future-Ready Sustainability Professional: Skills for Navigating Volatile Times,” Afe said sustainability should be viewed as a tool for managing risks, creating business value and delivering measurable impact.

She said organisations needed to understand how sustainability-related risks could affect their operations and involve departments such as finance, legal, procurement, human resources and operations in addressing them.

Afe also urged sustainability professionals to develop stronger commercial awareness and demonstrate how their work contributes to solving business problems and creating value.

She said companies should avoid funding initiatives simply because they appeared socially beneficial, stressing the importance of identifying the specific challenges an intervention was designed to address.

The Seplat executive encouraged professionals to use materiality assessments and stakeholder mapping to determine which sustainability issues were most important to businesses and their stakeholders.

She also stressed the importance of data and evidence in measuring the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives, urging practitioners to focus on indicators that demonstrate meaningful progress.

Afe identified commercial understanding, data literacy, governance, stakeholder engagement and relationship-building as essential skills for sustainability professionals seeking to influence business decisions.

She further encouraged practitioners to understand Nigeria’s regulatory environment, monitor emerging risks and develop cross-functional relationships.

According to her, sustainability professionals seeking board or executive positions must understand their organisations beyond their immediate areas of responsibility.

She urged practitioners to continuously develop their skills, participate in professional networks and seek mentorship and leadership opportunities.

Afe maintained that embedding sustainability into business strategy would help organisations manage emerging risks, improve decision-making and create more meaningful long-term value.