NBI 2023 Annual Report – Design and publication

When a reader is unaware of the design, the annual report designer has served their purpose well

The Ethical Agency (TEA) recently completed the National Business Initiative’s Integrated Annual Report Design for 2023.

About the National Business Initiative (NBI)

The National Business Initiative (NBI) is a voluntary coalition of South African and multinational companies, working towards sustainable growth and development in South Africa and the shaping of a sustainable future through responsible business action, thereby demonstrating business action for sustainable growth. 

Since their inception in 1995, the NBI has made a distinct impact in, among others, the spheres of housing delivery, crime prevention, local economic development, public sector capacity building, further education and training, schooling, public-private partnerships, energy efficiency and climate change.

About the annual report

The NBI’s integrated annual report covers the NBI’s activities, performance, strategy and prospects for the year to 30 June 2023, as well as relevant information up to the date of publication. The report is structured around the most material matters that could affect the organisation’s ability to create value for our stakeholders, including financial, environmental, social and governance issues. It also provides an update on the activities of our primary work streams during the year. 

In preparing the report, they were guided by the governance principles of the King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, 2016  (King IVTM), the statutory reporting requirements of the Companies Act, 2008 as amended, and the IFRS Foundation’s Integrated Reporting (IR) framework, as these apply to the organisation. Financial information in this report was independently audited by Mazars, and their report can be found on page 90. 

In short, the annual report presents the tremendous thinking and work that goes into the endeavours of the NBI as an organisation, its members, and its partners.

Highlights and key sections of the annual report include staff statistics, social transformation, economic inclusion, environmental sustainability, risk reports, governance and financial reporting. Learn more about the annual report here. 

“We provide a platform where courageous conversations, collective action and collaboration can happen between business, society and government, and bring an informed and global perspective to these engagements and actions.” 

 — The National Business Initiative

Following on from TEA’s NBI brand refresh in 2022, this is the second consecutive annual report that The Ethical Agency has designed for the NBI.

“The Ethical Agency’s acute understanding of NBI’s purpose and objectives translates into a seamless design vision and product. This is particularly valuable when communicating complex sustainability, transformation, development and governance issues through our Integrated Annual Report. We appreciate the high-quality final deliverable from TEA, which simultaneously aligns with, and amplifies, our mission as an organisation.”

— Amy Marshall​​​​, Communications Manager

Annual report design process

• When the reader is unaware of the design, an annual report designer has served their purpose well, and the reader can authentically and effortlessly engage with the content.
• The Ethical Agency takes a human-centred design approach to its annual report. Humans relate to and connect with people. Therefore, authentic human-centric imagery can help build trust and add life and personality to design publications.
• Big on diagrams – diagrams help to articulate data in ways that text and images cannot – TEA uses a consistent language for all diagrams, tables, charts and infographics that effortlessly help to break up text content and create memorable take outs from the work.
• Generous spacing and imagery – spacing content over multiple pages creates an elegant and spacious reading experience that feels considered and inviting, helping to create engaging connections with the content. By using full-page images and photos TEA creates a luxurious user experience that can be absorbed one page at a time.

The result?

A well-crafted, professional and world-class annual report that beautifully articulates the client’s vision, agenda, activities and achievements.

The Ethical Agency are annual report design experts – contact them today to find out how they can bring your publication designs to life.