SUSTAINABILITY AT AFRASIA BANK LIMITED
Sustainability Timeline
Our Sustainability Journey started way back in 2015 with our first reporting to the United Nations Global Compact. An initiative which we have upheld continuously since then.
As one of the pillars of AfrAsia’s “Bank Different” philosophy, sustainability is steadily being integrated in the Bank’s culture. The pursuit of sustainable practices is an ongoing process, which is being advocated by the Sustainability Champions of the Bank.
Materiality Matrix
Materiality Assessment [GRI 101]
Last year marked the beginning of AfrAsia’s engagement with its stakeholders on sustainability topics. One of the first steps was the Materiality Assessment, designed to gather insights on how important specific Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) issues are to our stakeholders. These insights are then used to guide our sustainability priorities, as well as reporting and communication needs.
The detailed methodology is given in last year’s Integrated Report, which can be found online at https://www.afrasiabank.com/media/3332/integrated-report-2018.pdf on page 117 - 119 and the results are as follows:
Progress achieved:
Our HR department focused on Career Management & Training, which resulted in an increase in the total number of training hours for our staff. We also designed various types of training to better suit the needs of our people including the revamping of our induction programme for the newcomers amongst others.
The way forward:
As a result of the materiality assessment, the sustainability department will focus on two key areas for the financial year 2019-2020:
- Ethics and Compliance – A compliance week will be organized in collaboration with the compliance department to promote awareness on this topic within the Bank; and
- Green Supply Chain – Together with our Facilities and Procurment department, we will look into ways to revamp our supply chain.
Last year’s materiality assessment was online based. Going forward, we will conduct this exercise through workshops and debriefing sessions with our key stakeholders. This will allow us to engage with them in a better manner. Relevant departments will also be invited to the debriefing sessions so that they understand how to use the results of the materiality assessment to adapt their future strategy.
Our Strategy
AfrAsia Bank has been gradually integrating principles of sustainability into its operations since 2015. We believe in adopting an integrated approach and our strategy takes into consideration Financial, Human, Social & Relationship, Natural, Intellectual and Manufactured Capitals.
Our 2021 strategy is based on the 4 pillars of sustainability, which is further developed into 6 core focus areas.
For the first couple of years, we made the conscious decision to focus on developing the workplace and social pillars to change the mindset of our staff and instill a culture of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability. The next phase is the development of Marketplace and Environmental Responsibilities, which is currently ongoing at the Bank.
The way forward is to set quantitative targets in order to measure our progress with regards to the different initiatives undertaken.
Pillars
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Pillars Main Objective GRI Standards SDGs
Workplace Responsibility
(Human Capital)
Main Objective
We aim to continue focusing on our greatest asset—our people—and foster an environment that promotes teamwork and innovation. We also strive to provide our staff with competitive salary rate, great benefits and a healthy work-life balance.
GRI Standards
GRI 401
GRI 403
GRI 404
GRI 405
GRI 406
SDGs
SDG 3
SDG 4
SDG 5
SDG 8
SDG 16
Pillars
Marketplace Responsibility
(Financial Capital, Manufactured Capital,
Intellectual Capital)
Main Objective
As a financial institution, we have a key role to play in transitioning towards a low-carbon economy. We want to reduce our direct and indirect impact and also give our customers an opportunity to invest in climate solutions.
GRI Standards
GRI 201
GRI 202
GRI 204
SDGs
SDG 8
SDG 11
SDG 13
SDG 16
Pillars
Environmental Responsibility (Natural Capital)
Main Objective
As part of our strategy, we aim to focus on environmental issues that are material to the Bank, which includes:
- Reduction in paper and electricity consumption; and
- responsible waste management. As the Bank is expanding rapidly, a baseline to measure KPIs is not recommended at this stage but we are still monitoring same.
GRI Standards
GRI 302
GRI 306
SDGs
SDG 12
SDG 13
SDG 17
Pillars
Social Responsibility
(Social & Relationship Capital)
Main Objective
Through AfrAsia Foundation, the Bank is also focusing on empowering vulnerable groups. AfrAsia School, being the main project of the Foundation, we strive to provide continued support to our beneficiaries even after they have left our pre-primary school, through various initiatives.
GRI Standards
GRI 203
GRI 413
SDGs
SDG 1
SDG 2
SDG 3
SDG 4
SDG 10