Cape Town – Sustainability has moved beyond compliance and is now a decisive source of competitive advantage, shaping access to capital, lending decisions and global market entry, Dr Dahlia Garwe, Corporate and Industry Affairs Head at Hippo Valley Estates, has said.
Dr Garwe was speaking as session chair of the panel “Smart Economies: Renewable Energy, Carbon Markets, and Sustainability” at the CEO Africa Annual Roundtable in Cape Town. She said sustainability considerations increasingly influence investment, lending and global market access.
“I’m sure you’ve seen this in your own companies — that for as long as you’re talking sustainability, and even in Zimbabwe it’s now an actual requirement from the accounting side,” she said. “It enhances access to capital.”
She said companies that are competitive on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics benefit from better access to finance and stronger participation in low-carbon global supply chains.
“For as long as you’re competitive in this space, you actually do have better access to capital and also enhance participation in low-carbon global supply [chains],” Dr Garwe said.
She framed the shift in stark terms. “What we’re saying here from the sustainability side is that it’s no longer about compliance. It is about competitiveness and long-term value creation,” she said.
Dr Garwe’s remarks came during a session focused on renewable energy, carbon markets and sustainability, as African business leaders gathered to discuss the continent’s economic transformation. She positioned sustainability as a commercial imperative rather than a regulatory burden, arguing that firms which treat it as a box-ticking exercise will be left behind in capital markets and global trade.
The session featured Eunice Kamwendo, Director of the UNECA Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa, as the main speaker, and formed part of the CEO Africa Annual Roundtable, which runs from 6 to 10 October under the theme “The Future of Africa: Innovate, Trade and Grow”.
