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Ven added: “There are huge business implications to sustainability reporting too. If a UK company, for example, wants to source materials or products from another company, the first thing they want to know is what the other company is doing about sustainability. Big companies will not want to work with anyone who isn’t reporting their sustainability.” Introducing sustainability reporting to Uganda Ven’s project began in 2016 when he was awarded a £2,500 Small Research Grant by Southampton Business School. “I wanted to do something that would make a difference, in terms of climate change,” he said. “I initially started to investigate addressing the issue of greenhouse gases but quickly that progressed to sustainability reporting, as that looks at the bigger picture.” Ven Tauringana (centre) with Martin Kyeyune (2nd right) and members of Makerere University Business School and the Uganda Manufacturers’ Association
“ Sustainability reporting is a way of companies taking a look at themselves holistically and setting goals for the future whilst making a commitment to a sustainable global economy.” Ven Tauringana Head of Department of Accounting and Professor of Accounting
A former PhD student of Ven’s, Dr Martin Kyeyune, now works for Roofings Ltd, a large manufacturing company in Uganda and a member of the Uganda Manufacturers’ Association. Ven approached Martin, and the work in Uganda grew from there. Ven visited Uganda in 2016 and ran workshops with 25 companies to show them how to do sustainability reporting. He then returned in 2018 and visited three companies who had begun their sustainability reporting journey. Ven visited again in July. “I wanted to speed up the process,” he said. “By chance, I met three academics from Makerere University who were interested in what I was doing. I was able to train them, and I now employ them to visit companies and help them get underway with their sustainability reports.” On this visit, Ven also appeared on the Business Today show on UBC (Uganda Broadcasting Corporation), where he spoke about sustainability reporting and how important it is for businesses. The Uganda Manufacturers’ Association has seen the success and impact of sustainability reporting, endorsing Ven’s work by introducing a Sustainability Quality Mark, which was launched in October. Ven said: “The quality mark demonstrates a company’s commitment to sustainability and, I believe, will become a necessity if a company wishes to export.” The future With 60 companies in Uganda trained in sustainability reporting already, Ven’s current target is for 100 Ugandan companies to have submitted sustainability reports to GRI by March 2020. Beyond that, Ven hopes the initiative will roll out to other African countries. He concluded: “In a few years’ time, my prediction is that it will be a win-win situation. Companies in the UK and other countries won’t have to physically go and see companies overseas – they will be able to see by searching on Global Reporting Initiative database which companies are producing sustainability reports. It will drastically cut advertising costs for companies overseas – this is effectively a free advertising platform for them.”
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