Sustainable Development Goals and Small and Medium Enterprises: A Comparative Study of Emerging Economies and Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

As global environmental and humanitarian issues increase, businesses are striving hard to tackle these challenges at the global level and preserve the ecosystem. Agenda 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have made sustainability reporting (SR) more imperative for both developing and emerging economies (EEs), igniting interest in literature. The primary purpose of this article is to conduct a comparative study of the state of SR in relation to the UN SDGs. The article analysed data extracted from the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) sustainability disclosure database as submitted by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for the reporting years 2016–2020. In all 172 SME reports from EEs and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) were analysed using a multivariate multiple regression. The findings show that the listed SMEs are more likely to address the SDGs to address the SDGs than non-listed SMEs. Again, firms with higher sustainability impacts are more likely to integrate the SDGs in their reporting. Lastly, the data confirm regional effects with regard to SDG reporting. Moreover, firms from low-income economies are more likely to report on the SDGs. This study aims to find how sustainable disclosure in EE and SSA is contributing towards SME growth and survival.