Acting General Manager for Sustainability and Shared Value at MTN Ghana, Georgina Asare Fiagbenu, has said sustainability should be treated as a way of life rather than simply a requirement imposed on businesses.

She said businesses and individuals had a responsibility to operate ethically, use resources responsibly and protect the environment, regardless of whether sustainability practices were required by regulation.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, August 20, as part of discussions on MTN Sustainability Month 2026, Ms Asare Fiagbenu said sustainability was not a new concept.

“In my mind, sustainability has always been with us because that's the right way to live, to ensure that we are efficient and we are responsible,” she said.

She said responsible behaviour included upholding ethical values, operating with integrity and meeting basic obligations such as paying taxes.

“We have the right values. We are ethical. If it's taxes, you pay your taxes as a company, as an individual,” she said.

According to Ms Asare Fiagbenu, what had changed was that businesses were now being encouraged to operate within a common framework that allowed their sustainability performance to be measured and compared.

“What businesses have been asked to do is now to have a framework, a universal framework for, let's say, judging how we are all doing,” she said.

She acknowledged that the sustainability space was increasingly being regulated but said MTN's approach was not simply to comply with regulations.

“The space is being regulated, but our stance at MTN is that we don't have to comply because we are being regulated. We have to do it as a way of life,” she said.

Ms Asare Fiagbenu said businesses had to pursue growth without undermining the resources needed by society and future generations.

“Businesses have to be ethical. We all have to operate with integrity,” she said.

She added that companies needed to manage resources fairly rather than focusing solely on increasing profits and revenue.

“We all have to ensure that we manage our resources equitably so that in trying to generate more profit or revenue, we don't compromise the resources that we have,” she said.

Using electricity as an example, she said responsible consumption could help ensure that scarce resources were available to more people.

“So here we are, we are all battling for electricity, but if we use it judiciously, it should reach everybody,” she said.

Ms Asare Fiagbenu said the move towards mandatory sustainability reporting in 2027 was encouraging businesses to take the issue more seriously.

She said the responsibility could not, however, rest with only a few companies.

“Businesses are more excited because now that you have it, we are working towards mandatory reporting in 2027; it's just telling us that we need to be more responsible and we need to bring more people on board,” she said.

She stressed that sustainability would only have a meaningful impact if businesses, individuals and communities all played their part.

“You can't just have one business or 50 businesses complying, watching the environment, doing things right. Every individual in Ghana has to come on board,” she said.

Ms Asare Fiagbenu said the broader goal was to encourage everyone to make responsible choices that supported both economic growth and environmental protection.

She said MTN's Sustainability Month was, therefore, intended to encourage more people and businesses to adopt sustainable practices.

“I think this is the reason why we are excited – to ensure that all of us are coming on board to do the right thing, to protect the environment, and to grow our businesses,” she said.

“We also ensure that we balance it by managing the environment and our society and honouring our commitments,” she added.