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This paper aims to review how corporate governance is institutionalised in Nigeria and examine the relationship between board size, CEOs’ duality, board composition and the board's involvement in strategy.

A structured questionnaire was sent by post to the chairmen of 138 publicly quoted companies in Nigeria in November 2004.

Using primary and secondary data, our results suggest that the Nigerian public companies have embraced some principles of the Code of Best Practices for Public Companies. There is a high level of board involvement in strategy decision‐making process, but no correlation was found between board involvement and a number of governance variables (board size, board independence and CEO duality).

The sample of 39 responding companies is small although it represents a 28 per cent of response rate and is representative of the Nigerian stock market. However, we are unable to look at other factors such as industry sectors and we cannot generalise our findings regarding corporate governance practices in Nigeria.

The investment climate in Nigeria can become more reassuring than in the past although there is room for further improvements as the effectiveness of the corporate government practices is still in doubt.

This paper adds to the scanty literature available on corporate governance practices in developing, countries. Findings extend our understanding about the strategic functions of the board in Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous nation, and the world's sixth larger producer of oil.

The 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals (SDG) have gained considerable attention in research and public debate. This calls for accounting research on the subject of SDG disclosure. Based on this premise, this paper aims to evaluate and analyze the extent of SDG reporting by 80 listed firms from 8 selected African countries for the period of 2016 to 2018.

The study adopts a content analysis and survey method to evaluate the extent of SDG reporting by the selected African countries. This paper conducted content analysis through the use of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) framework and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework to gauge the extent of firms’ compliance with SDG reporting. Also, this paper uses the business reporting indicators for each SDG developed by GRI to determine the compliance level of the selected firms regarding SDG reporting. The survey was targeted at the big four audit firms (PwC, KPMG, Ernst and Young and Deloitte and Touche).

The evaluation of SDG disclosure by the 80 listed firms in Africa is still at a very low level except for South African firms. Also, the findings of the business reporting indicators for each SDG target show that most of the firms show little or no concern to report on SDG activities. The result of the research survey indicates that voluntary disclosure, lack of management commitment, lack of regulatory enforcement and cost implications account for low SDG disclosure by the selected African firms.

This study fails to consider the qualitative research approach in determining the extent of SDG disclosure in Africa, as the study did not allow respondents to freely express their opinion on SDG disclosure, as a large part of the survey used close-ended questionnaires.

This study’s findings call for clear responsibility and a strong drive for SDG performance from corporate institutions in Africa. While the overall responsibility rests on the government, the actualization of SDG cannot be achieved without support from corporate organizations. The empirical approach used in this study emphasizes the need for corporate organizations to embrace sustainable practices and to integrate SDG information into their reporting cycle.

This study contributes to growing literature in the area of corporate reporting, sustainability reporting and SDG research in Africa and other emerging economies. Also, this study provides original insight into the contribution of accounting research toward the achievement of SDG.

The global agenda of sustainable development goals (SDGs) has posed a major challenge to corporate organizations by addressing sustainability issues within their business model and strategy. Based on this premise, this study provides empirical examination of SDG reporting of the top fifty (50) listed companies in Nigeria for the period of 2016–2018.

The study adopts survey method and content analysis technique to analyze corporate SDG reporting of the selected firms. The study examines the top-50 listed firms in Nigeria based on their market capitalization. Questionnaires were distributed to financial managers of the top-50 listed firms and staffs of the big four audit firms from the governance and sustainability department. The fifty (50) firms selected are as follows: 17 firms from the financial sector, 13 firms from the consumer goods sector, 5 firms from the healthcare sector, 6 firms from the oil and gas sector, 5 firms from the industrial goods sector and 4 firms from the information technology sector. The content analysis was utilized through the PwC framework, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) framework to gage the extent of firms' compliance regarding corporate SDG reporting. Also, the business reporting indicators for each SDG developed by GRI was employed to determine the compliance level of the selected firms with respect to corporate SDG reporting.

The empirical evidence shows that corporate organizations in Nigeria have performed poorly in corporate SDG reporting. The result of the survey reveals that lack of regulatory framework and voluntary disclosure are the major factors that contributes to low level of SDG reporting by Nigerian firms. Also, the result of the content analysis shows poor reporting on SDG activities. The result of the research survey indicates that voluntary disclosure, lack of management commitment and lack of regulatory enforcement accounts for low SDG disclosure by the selected Nigerian firms.

This study's findings call for clear responsibility and a strong drive for SDG performance from corporate institutions in Nigeria. Whilst the overall responsibility rests on the government, the actualization of SDG cannot be achieved without support from corporate organizations. The empirical approach used in this study emphasizes the need for corporate organizations to embrace sustainable practices and to integrate SDG information into their reporting cycle.

This study contributes to growing literature in the area of corporate reporting and SDG research in Nigeria and other emerging economies.

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between culture, corporate governance (CG) variables and corporate risk reporting practices of listed companies in Nigeria and South Africa, two large African economies at the south of the Sahara.

The study uses 500 firm-year observations for the period of 2013–2017 for firms listed on the Lagos and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges. Descriptive analysis was performed to provide the background statistics of the variables examined. This was followed by regression analysis, which constitutes the main data analysis.

The results indicate that power distance is negatively associated with the corporate risk disclosure (CRD). This implies that organizations where power distance is high are characterized by lower CRD and vice versa. From the analysis, two factors, namely, institutional ownership and profitability, were found to explain sample firms’ risk disclosure practices as they are positively and statistically related to CRD.

This study is one of the few to measure the influence of culture and CG on CRD in Sub-Sahara Africa. Understanding the drivers for firms to disclose risk-related information may assist regulators and standards setters in promoting both the spread and the improvement of such disclosures through the issuance of CG codes and reporting guidelines.