Integrated Reporting, Stakeholder Engagement, and Corporate Sustainability in Nigerian Financial Institutions

This study examines the relationship between integrated reporting adoption, stakeholder engagement quality, and corporate sustainability outcomes in Nigerian financial institutions. Integrated reporting, promoted by the International Integrated Reporting Council, advocates for a holistic disclosure model that connects financial performance with environmental, social, governance, and intellectual capital dimensions. While integrated reporting has gained traction in South African financial institutions, its adoption in Nigeria remains nascent and understudied. This study employs a mixed-method approach, combining content analysis of published annual and integrated reports from 15 Nigerian banks and insurance companies for 2021 to 2023 with 30 in-depth interviews with sustainability officers, investor relations managers, and institutional investors. An integrated reporting quality index is constructed and correlated with stakeholder engagement practices and sustainability outcomes including customer retention, employee development investment, and environmental impact reduction. Structural equation modeling is employed. Results indicate that institutions with higher integrated reporting quality demonstrate significantly stronger stakeholder engagement practices and better sustainability outcomes. The relationship between integrated reporting and financial sustainability is mediated by stakeholder trust. The study concludes that integrated reporting acts as a credibility-building mechanism that strengthens institution-stakeholder relationships and supports sustainable financial performance. It recommends that the CBN and NAICOM formally incorporate integrated reporting into their disclosure frameworks for supervised institutions.

Keywords: integrated reporting, stakeholder engagement, corporate sustainability, financial institutions, IIRC.