ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF LISTED COMPANIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

Assurance services are encapsulated in environmental auditing of corporate entity in order
to assured or attested to the credibility of environmental compliance of corporate entity to
the environmental stakeholders and to authenticate their environmental performance. Thus,
the study examined the effect of environmental auditing on the environmental performance
of listed companies in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. The study employed longitudinal
panel regression technique to dissect the data. Data were extracted from audited financial
statements sampled firms. The findings revealed that audit firm quality, audit committee
gender diversity and audit committee diligence demonstrated a positive and statistically
significant nexus with environmental performance index. While in the order hand, audit
committee size showed a negative but insignificant relationship with environmental
performance index. The study concluded that fixed effect results revealed that substantive
governance mechanisms particularly audit committee gender diversity and diligence
played a critical role in improving environmental performance among the listed firms in
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Consistent with legitimacy theory, these findings suggest that
firms achieve legitimacy not merely through symbolic compliance but through proactive
and inclusive governance practices that responds to evolving societal expectations
regarding environmental responsibility.