by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – MICROSOFT South Africa and Nedbank have joined forces to build a financial-sector-led sustainability capability for the African continent.
The partnership will focus on driving multiple programmes to amplify the United Nations’ (UN) 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with technological advancements.
This is to service internal enterprise requirements and enable customers to participate in the growing green market ecosystem more easily and responsibly.
The sustainability capability is expected to transcend traditional transactional banking activities and embrace innovation, incubation and research with academia as well.
“At Nedbank, we leverage our ongoing investments in technology to revolutionise traditional sustainability management, not just through a financial lens but also considering the positive impact that our information technology solutions will have on society and the environments that we operate in,” said Fred Swanepoel, Nedbank Group Chief Information Officer.
The African continent is disproportionately affected by threats caused by climate change. Droughts, floods and increasing water scarcity will have negative effects on food systems and people’s livelihoods.
“At Microsoft, we recognise our responsibility and opportunity to ensure the technology we create benefits everyone on the planet, as well as the planet itself,” assured Samer Abu-Ltaif, Corporate Vice President and President of Microsoft Middle East and Africa.
Microsoft will leverage the Cloud to enable new innovations that will empower the financial services sector to drive sustainability, and support Africa’s overarching sustainability ambitions.
As at December 31, 2021, Nedbank has provided and raised over R100 billion in SDG-related financing and funding.
– CAJ News