Do Egyptian listed companies support SDGs? Evidence from UNCTAD guidance on core indicators disclosures

Abstract

This paper provides an exploratory analysis of the extent of Sustainable Development Goals disclosure (SDGD) by the top 30 Egyptian companies. We use the 33 core indicators of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which span economic, institutional, social, and environmental areas. Overall, the results suggest that SDGD in Egypt is still gaining traction, as indicated by a relatively low average disclosure score of only 25%, which translates to approximately eight indicators. We also document a variation in SDGD among the four areas, where disclosure addressing economic and institutional indicators is higher than that of social and environmental areas. This variation could be attributed to the differential regulatory and legal intensity. Disclosure is most noticeable for taxes, employment, women empowerment, financial transparency, corporate governance, and energy. We argue that Egypt has the legislative infrastructure and clear political will from the state to support sustainable development. However, there is a need for coordinated awareness efforts to establish a culture of sustainable development among various stakeholders, including businesses. Finally, there should be a stronger conviction regarding the importance of information sharing as well as comprehensive reporting standards and enhanced regulatory enforcement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to address the status of SDGD in Egypt. Accordingly, there is a need for future research that analyzes both the determinants of SDGD and its consequences