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Kenyan bourse joins UN sustainable capital market

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has joined the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) to promote transparency and performance on corporate sustainability practices, it said Tuesday.

By joining the SSE, which was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2009, the NSE has become its 18th member globally, and the fourth in Africa alongside the Egyptian Exchange, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

"The NSE is honored to collaborate with the SSE project as this is in line with our commitment to develop a sustainable capital market that will create sustainable value for all the stakeholders, " NSE CEO Geoffrey Odundo said.

He said the NSE is seeking to promote capital markets that finance development and support the needs of present generations, without impacting negatively on the quality of life of future generations.

The SSE explores how stock exchanges can work together with investors, regulators and companies to enhance corporate transparency, and ultimately performance on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues while encouraging responsible long-term approaches to investment.

It is co-organized by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Global Compact, the UN Environment Program's Finance Initiative, and the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment.

UNCTAD Director of Investment and Enterprise Division, James Zhan said Kenya is the biggest economy in East and Central Africa and a critically important market for promoting sustainable development practices in the region.

"We are delighted that the NSE is joining us to promote sustainable business practices," Zhan said.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said NSE can play an important role in the quest for innovative development finance and a reorientation of financial markets towards sustainable development outcomes.

"We welcome the dynamism that the NSE can bring to promoting investment in sustainable development," he said. Endi