FITC Boss Charges African Businesses, Leaders On Climate Action At 3rd Sustainability Conference

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Dr Chizor Malize, has called on African business leaders, regulators and policymakers to treat climate action as an economic imperative, urging them to move from conversation to concrete action on Sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.

Malize gave the charge while delivering the welcome address at the third edition of the FITC Sustainability & ESG Conference, which brought together business executives, regulators, policymakers, board chairs, development finance institutions and diplomats to examine how environmental stewardship, social investment and governance can drive Africa’s economic growth.

“The measure of this conference will not be the quality of our conversations alone. It will be the quality of the actions they inspire,” she said.

The FITC boss noted that sustainability and ESG considerations had shifted from the margins of corporate reporting to the centre of economic strategy globally, reshaping how nations compete, how businesses create value, how investors allocate capital, and how institutions earn public trust. “Climate resilience is now an economic imperative. Social investment is now a competitive advantage. Strong governance is now a prerequisite for sustainable investment and long-term growth,” she said.

She described Africa’s natural resources, renewable energy potential, youthful population and entrepreneurial spirit as a “generational opportunity” that required the right leadership, institutions and investments to harness.

Explaining the rationale for convening the conference, Malize said FITC exists to shape ideas, strengthen institutions and lead conversations that influence business, governance and economic development across the continent. “Knowledge informs leadership, leadership shapes institutions and strong institutions transform nations,” she said.
She called on attendees to treat climate resilience, social inclusion and governance as interconnected issues requiring cross-sector collaboration, urging leaders to move “beyond diagnosis to practical solutions” and “beyond individual initiatives to collective impact.”

Malize further urged participants to leave the conference committed to leading more responsibly, investing more strategically, governing more transparently and collaborating more intentionally, describing this as a step toward “building the Africa we all envision.”

She appreciated the conference’s online participants, speakers, the 2026 ESG Planning Committee, the ESG Institute Advisory Board Members, the FITC team, and her family for their support in staging the event, which she described as one of Africa’s most impactful gatherings on sustainability and ESG.