Alexforbes launches inaugural impact awards recognising sustainable business leadership

Johannesburg, 11 February 2026 – Alexforbes has launched the inaugural Alexforbes Paragon Impact awards, a new annual initiative recognising leading sustainability and impact performance among JSE Top 100 companies. The awards aim to highlight businesses demonstrating resilient and future-focused strategies that contribute to South Africa’s economic, social and environmental priorities.

The Impact Awards winners will be selected through an independent and data-driven assessment of the JSE top 100 companies conducted by Paragon Impact. Paragon Impact is an award-winning impact monitoring and measurement solution aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The evaluation will assess the real-world impacts of company activities and their financial relevance to long-term value creation, resilience and risk management within the context of South Africa’s key economic, social and environmental challenges.

In addition to recognising leading impact performers among the JSE top 100 companies, Alexforbes intends to create an index based on the top-performing impact companies and develop solutions to track this index over the coming months.

Carina Wessels, Executive: Impact Advisory at Alexforbes, said, “Integrated reporting awards are well established in the South African market. These awards largely assess the quality and completeness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures or alignment with reporting frameworks. While this remains important, moving beyond a disclosure-led approach towards a multi-dimensional view that considers an organisation’s impact on people and the planet supports our strategic intent to drive real-world impact and aligns with regulatory direction and evolving stakeholder expectations. Companies that demonstrate net positive impact within the South African context deserve recognition.”

Brett Wallington, Head of Paragon Impact, powered by Alexforbes, commented, “The awards will recognise leadership across core dimensions of sustainable business performance including climate and environmental stewardship, social and economic inclusion, governance and accountability and impact measurement and integration. Award categories will include earth and climate stewardship, responsible resource use and innovation, governance, ethics, impact integration and accountability.”

Public data for the JSE top 100 companies as at 1 January 2026 will be automatically assessed through the awards evaluation process. The Alexforbes Paragon Impact Awards will take place in March 2026 and invitations will be distributed to the top 100 companies in February 2026.

For more information or to enquire about attendance, please contact Brett Wallington at wallingtonb@alexforbes.com.