Corporate governance disclosure in developing countries: A comparative analysis in Nigerian and south african banks

Abstract

This research examines corporate governance disclosure in Nigerian and South African Banks using the unweighted disclosure index technique. This research provides a cross-sectional examination of corporate governance disclosure practices in the annual reports of listed banks in Nigeria and South Africa. The results suggest that Nigerian and South African banks have a high level of corporate governance disclosure. However, Nigeria and South African banks have low levels of voluntary corporate governance disclosure. Furthermore, in reporting of voluntary corporate governance disclosure, Nigerian banks appear to be collating information with no link to the overall business strategy of the organization while the South African banks have a more robust approach to voluntary corporate governance disclosure as they apply international guidelines such as the Global Reporting Initiative to their disclosure.