The IFRS Foundation has approved a five-year operating and financing plan through 2031 and confirmed Geneva as the future seat of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), as the organisation seeks to strengthen the financial and institutional foundations of global accounting and sustainability reporting at a time when more jurisdictions are incorporating ISSB standards into their regulatory frameworks. The ISSB will establish its Geneva office in 2027, joining existing operations in Beijing, Frankfurt, Montreal and Tokyo, while proposed constitutional changes would reduce both the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and ISSB to 10 members each from 2028.
The decisions mark a new phase for the IFRS Foundation, whose standards have increasingly become part of the infrastructure used by investors, companies, regulators and financial institutions to assess financial performance and sustainability-related risks. For African markets, the development is particularly relevant as countries including Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia move towards adopting or otherwise using ISSB Standards, bringing climate and sustainability information closer to mainstream financial reporting and capital-market regulation.
The Foundation’s five-year plan separates projected funding and resource requirements for the IASB and ISSB while seeking to build more durable sources of income for both boards. For the IASB, the Foundation said it will continue working with jurisdictions that have adopted IFRS Accounting Standards to secure financial contributions, while also seeking greater contributions from capital-market participants that benefit from the standards. Licensing revenue from IASB intellectual property is expected to provide another source of income.
The funding question is more than an internal administrative issue. International standards require sustained technical work, consultation, research, translation, implementation support and engagement with regulators and preparers. As the number of jurisdictions using the standards increases, the cost of maintaining a globally consistent system also becomes more consequential for the institutions and markets that depend on it. The Foundation has therefore framed the financing model around shared responsibility, arguing that market participants benefiting from IFRS Standards as critical capital-market infrastructure should contribute to their development and maintenance. The IASB will retain a primarily single-location operating model, with accumulated reserves available in the short term while a more stable funding structure is developed.
The ISSB presents a different operational challenge. Created in 2021, the board has developed a multi-location model designed to support implementation and engagement across major financial centres. Its current presence in Beijing, Frankfurt, Montreal and Tokyo will be expanded with Geneva becoming its official seat in 2027. The choice of Geneva places the ISSB closer to a dense network of international organisations, financial institutions, regulators and sustainability-focused initiatives. Frankfurt will continue to serve as the ISSB’s hub for engagement with the European Union, while the other offices provide regional connections across major capital markets.
ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber has argued that Geneva’s position as a centre for sustainable finance and multilateral cooperation makes it a natural location for the board. The move also reflects the ISSB’s increasingly international role as companies and investors seek comparable information on climate risks, supply-chain exposure, natural-resource dependencies and other sustainability-related factors.
The expansion comes as the ISSB’s standards gain regulatory traction. More than 45 jurisdictions are now using ISSB Standards, according to the IFRS Foundation, while companies in 18 jurisdictions are expected to be issuing reports under the framework by 2027. The global picture is particularly important for Africa because implementation is no longer confined to developed markets. The IFRS Foundation’s jurisdictional profiles include Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia, among other emerging and developing economies. In its published implementation material, the Foundation has identified Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda among jurisdictions with first reporting periods expected in 2027, while Nigeria and Uganda are included among countries where requirements are expected from 2028 or later.
For African companies, this changes the nature of sustainability reporting. Climate disclosure is increasingly moving from voluntary corporate communication towards information that may be examined by investors, lenders, regulators and other capital-market participants. The result is likely to place greater emphasis on the quality of corporate data, internal controls, governance structures and financial-reporting systems. The implications are particularly significant for listed companies and financial institutions seeking international capital. Investors comparing companies across markets need information that can be assessed on a consistent basis. Without common standards, sustainability disclosures can vary significantly in scope, methodology and materiality, making it difficult to distinguish between genuine exposure and differences created by reporting practices.
The ISSB’s IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 standards were designed around this problem. IFRS S1 establishes general requirements for disclosure of sustainability-related financial information, while IFRS S2 focuses specifically on climate-related disclosures. Together, they seek to create a global baseline that can be incorporated into national regulatory systems while allowing jurisdictions to determine their own broader reporting requirements.
For African economies, the value of that baseline will depend heavily on implementation capacity. Large listed companies and multinational subsidiaries may already have sustainability, risk and financial-reporting teams capable of responding to the requirements. Smaller companies, private enterprises and businesses operating in less developed capital markets may face greater challenges in collecting reliable information and integrating it into corporate reporting. That gap could become an important issue for financial institutions. Banks and investors increasingly need information about the climate and sustainability risks embedded in their lending and investment portfolios. A company seeking financing for an expansion, for example, may increasingly be expected to demonstrate how physical climate risks, energy costs, regulatory changes or supply-chain disruption could affect its financial performance.
This has particular relevance to sectors that dominate African economies, including agriculture, mining, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure and financial services. Climate-related disruptions can affect production volumes, asset values, operating costs and access to capital. Standardised disclosure can therefore become a mechanism through which these risks enter mainstream financial analysis. The development also has implications for African capital markets. Better comparable information can potentially make it easier for international investors to evaluate African companies against peers in other regions. But the benefits will depend on whether reporting requirements are supported by credible assurance, data systems and regulatory oversight.
The IFRS Foundation’s governance changes are intended to support the organisation as this global adoption expands. Proposed amendments to its Constitution would reduce both the IASB and ISSB to 10 members each from 2028, while maintaining geographic balance and diversity of professional experience, skills and perspectives. The consultation on the proposed changes runs until November 16, 2026. The reduction in board size follows an earlier decision by the Trustees and is part of a broader effort to improve the Foundation’s operating model. The organisation’s 2025 annual report described a transformation programme involving organisational restructuring, cost reviews, stronger income generation and work to refresh its medium- and long-term strategy.
The leadership transition adds another layer to the changes. Steven Maijoor will become Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees from January 2027, succeeding Erkki Liikanen, while Sam Woods has been appointed Chair of the IASB from October 2026. Laura Forzani will become Managing Director of the Foundation from September 1, 2026. Emmanuel Faber remains Chair of the ISSB, with his current term running through December 2027. For the ISSB, continuity of leadership comes as the organisation moves from standard creation towards implementation. The board has already issued its first two standards and is now working with jurisdictions, companies, regulators and other stakeholders to support adoption and consistent application.
That transition is particularly important in Africa. The continent’s economies have comparatively low historical contributions to global greenhouse-gas emissions but face significant exposure to climate-related physical and economic risks. African businesses therefore need reporting systems capable of capturing risks that can affect financial performance without turning sustainability reporting into a separate exercise disconnected from corporate decision-making.
Kenya provides one example of how this process is developing. The country is among the jurisdictions that have formally moved towards ISSB Standards, while its financial markets and regulators are increasingly incorporating climate-related considerations into discussions around corporate reporting and sustainable finance. Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia are similarly part of the growing African group engaging with the standards. The challenge will be to avoid creating a reporting regime that is formally aligned with international standards but difficult for companies to implement. African regulators and standard-setters will need to consider the availability of climate data, assurance capacity, corporate reporting expertise and the costs faced by smaller companies.
There is also a question of proportionality. A large multinational mining company and a small African manufacturer do not have the same resources to produce detailed sustainability disclosures. Implementation frameworks will therefore need to preserve the usefulness of information to investors while recognising differences in company size, market development and data availability.
The financing model of the IFRS Foundation has a parallel African dimension. If global standards increasingly function as financial infrastructure, jurisdictions and market participants using them will face questions about how that infrastructure is financed. For developing economies, contributions to international standard-setting institutions must be weighed alongside domestic capacity-building needs, including support for regulators, accountants, auditors, listed companies and smaller businesses.
The ISSB’s multi-location structure could help address some of these challenges by strengthening engagement in different regions. Geneva’s addition to Beijing, Frankfurt, Montreal and Tokyo means the organisation is building a network rather than relying exclusively on a single geographic centre. That could provide more opportunities for regulators and market participants in emerging markets to engage directly with standard-setters. For investors, the wider significance is the potential emergence of a more comparable global dataset on sustainability-related financial risks. For companies, it means sustainability information is increasingly becoming part of the information architecture surrounding access to capital. For regulators, it creates a challenge of translating international standards into domestic requirements without weakening their consistency or imposing unnecessary reporting costs.
For Africa, the opportunity lies in ensuring that the adoption of ISSB Standards strengthens rather than merely expands reporting obligations. Reliable sustainability information can help investors price risks more accurately, support lenders in assessing climate exposure and give companies clearer benchmarks for managing energy, resource and transition risks.
The next stage will therefore be less about the existence of global sustainability standards and more about the quality of their implementation. The IFRS Foundation’s five-year plan, Geneva expansion and governance changes provide the institutional framework. African regulators, companies, auditors, investors and financial institutions will determine how effectively that framework translates into better information and stronger capital-market decisions on the continent.
As sustainability disclosure moves deeper into financial reporting, the economic question for Africa is straightforward: whether better information can help direct scarce capital towards businesses and infrastructure that are resilient to climate and other sustainability-related risks. The answer will depend not only on the standards themselves, but on the institutions, data systems, skills and governance arrangements that make those standards usable.
