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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

INTERIM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S MESSAGE

Dear Readers,

The year 2020-2021 has marked history… not just because of the global pandemic but it has also been a stark reminder of how fragile our lives and our planets are. Alongside the many challenges that COVID-19 has bequeathed us, it has also sharpened the focus on the need to think long-term and adopt sustainability as a way of life, rather than a mere option. As the world continues to navigate through the pandemic, I am grateful to our AfrAsians, our customers and our shareholders for their unwavering support and trust in AfrAsia over the past year. Whilst our primary focus remained the safety and health of our employees and customers, we anchored our success on our four pillars: customer-centricity, teamwork, innovation and sustainability. The latter has been our guiding light in setting our recovery path, all the way to our future growth strategy.

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MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY AND CSR

Dear Readers,

The world is adapting to a ‘New Normal’ and so have I since joining AfrAsia Bank in June 2021. The unprecedented challenges triggered by COVID-19, coupled with the ever-evident impacts of climate change, are calling for a major rethink of our priorities as well as the ways and means we, as citizens of the world, use to achieve them. As a responsible corporate citizen, building resilience and nurturing the livelihood of our future generations is at the heart of our sustainability agenda 2030.
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1. OUR SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 has offered an unprecedent opportunity for companies to move towards the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) in their management systems. There is a global increase in awareness in regards to ESG and operational resilience amongst the private sector community. We, at AfrAsia Bank, have also taken this commitment to work on a 2030 Sustainability Strategy to contribute to a net zero carbon economy. Supported by our Board of Directors, the Bank believed in sustainability as a long-haul value creation for all its stakeholders and a culture of transparency.

Based on the four pillars of sustainability (workplace responsibility, marketplace responsibility, environmental responsibility and social responsibility), our 2021 sustainability strategy has been our blueprint to integrate responsible principles within our business practices and to develop projects focused on long term value creation. Throughout the years, the focus was also on building a culture and awareness around sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Looking back on the financial year 2020-2021, which has been severely disrupted by the COVID crisis, many projects were either postponed or adapted to fit the ‘new’ normal. For the third-year consecutive, a separate sustainability report with details on Bank’s non-financial performance has been provided. These reports can be found on our website in the Sustainability Section.

The different pillars will be explored in more details throughout the report in the various chapters.

Fig 1: Our 2021 Strategy

2. WORKPLACE RESPONSIBILITY

Several projects are currently in progress under the aegis of the Human Resources (HR) department. With the COVID pandemic impacting our operations and day to day work, our main concerns were wellbeing/health, job security, employee retention and the on-going training of our people.
WORKPLACERESPONSIBILITYOngoing monitoringand reportingPromotion ofonline trainingPromotion of WorkFrom HomeProject on Diversity &Equality (On-going)Sustainable HR -Our PeopleGENDER EQUALITY58DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROTHREDUCEDINEQUALITIES10

Fig 2: Overview of HR projects

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3. MARKETPLACE RESPONSIBILITY

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Fig 11: Overview of Marketplace Responsibility

4. ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Fig 15: Overview of projects under Environmental Responsibility

ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION

AfrAsia Bank has two premises in Mauritius at Port Louis and Ebene. We rely on the Central Electricity board for our electricity needs and monitor our electricity consumption to detect any irregularities.

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5. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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Fig 19: Overview of Social Responsibility pillar

Founded in 2016, AfrAsia Foundation (the “Foundation”) acts as the social arm of the bank and the development of the social responsibility pillar is done through same. The Foundation funds sustainable projects that fall under its three main pillars namely: Education, Health and Environment. All decisions are taken by the governance body i.e. the council of the Foundation.
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Sustainability Report