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Access Bank PLC has won the Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement Award of the Global Sustainable Finance Awards, Karlsruhe 2022. The bank was presented the plaque and certificate for the coveted global award, for the seventh consecutive time, on 2 December 2022, at an event in Karlsruhe, Germany. The award event held on day-two of the Global Sustainable Finance Conference (GSFC) 2022, with both events organised by the European Organisation for Sustainable Development (EOSD).

EOSD says the awards aim to provide recognition to financial institutions that have successfully embedded economic, social and environmental sustainability into their organisational culture; honour organisations that have made outstanding contributions in the field of sustainable finance; and acknowledge and recognize CEOs who have distinguished themselves as leaders in sustainable banking and finance.

The awards also aim to stimulate the interests of financial institutions and other stakeholders in integrating sustainability in their core business strategy; and promote the growth of sustainable financial instruments and markets worldwide, particularly in the fields of green finance and investments, financial inclusion and social finance, green equity and venture capital, and holistic integration of sustainability in the financial institutions.

The four categories of the awards are Best Innovation in Sustainable Financial Products & Services; Outstanding Sustainable Project Financing; Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement; and Sustainability Leader of the Year.

Access Bank first won the Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement award in 2016. In 2019, then-Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank PLC, and current Group CEO of The Access Corporation, Herbert Wigwe, received the Sustainability Leader of the Year award.

According to its Sustainability Factsheet, Access Bank is taking the lead in Africa as one of the socially responsible businesses and has embedded sound ESG policies as core elements in its growth strategy to create sustainable economic values. Its local recognitions include being the winner of the Central Bank of Nigeria Award for Sustainable Bank of the Year (third-time consecutive winner).

In December 2020, Access Bank became the first African commercial bank to be designated as a Sustainability Certified Financial Institution, having implemented the Sustainability Standards and Certification Initiative (SSCI) of the EOSD, achieving the highest level of certification in the programme that has been described as “rigorous but rewarding” by EOSD’s CEO and Chairman of International Council of Sustainability Standards, Arshad Rab.

Access Bank has been recognised for its various initiatives, including its ‘Access More’ banking app that promotes financial inclusion and ease of access to banking services, corporate social investment programme in which over $38 million has been invested to deliver social, economic and environment good in the communities where it operates, women empowerment initiatives, and leading role in supporting social and public health causes. According to the factsheet, Access Bank has been working very closely with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and other leading banks, and was the only West African Bank on the Core Group, that develop the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB).