"Find your life purpose, the work that excites you and aligns with your values."
Sumaya Jaffer leads Sustainability Advisory at SNG Grant Thornton, helping organisations embed environmental, social and governance priorities into their core strategies. Her work spanscarbon footprint assessments, ESG roadmaps, and mentoring SMEs through enterprise and supplier development programmes. She also supports community women’s forums to strengthen governance and leadership.
Her career began in internal auditing, but her passion for creating meaningful societal impact led her into the dynamic field of sustainability. She now blends her commercial and technical expertise with a purposedriven approach, guiding clients through complex ESG challenges with practical, results-focused solutions.
A pioneering offering under her leadership is the ESG Intelligence Hub — a digitally intuitive, market-ready platform that combines SNG Grant Thornton’s global sustainability advisory expertise with GoVEVA, a proven ESG management tool. It centralises data, aligns with global reporting standards, and turns ESG requirements into actionable business strategies.
Sumaya sees sustainability becoming a business imperative, shaped by:
linking economic growth, environmental stewardship and social impact.
ESG solutions enabling real-time insights, transparency and accurate reporting.
embedding ESG into operations and culture for long-term value creation.
She believes African-led solutions are key to tackling the continent’s climate, social and economic challenges.
Sumaya is committed to amplifying women’s voices, bringing more women entrepreneurs into ESG programmes, and ensuring they have the tools, confidence and influence to lead. She has navigated the challenge of being underestimated in professional spaces and now uses her platform to open doors for others.
"Be intentional about the impact you want to make, and let that guide your decisions."
When asked what Turning Growth into Shared Progress means to her, Sumaya says:
"It means leaving businesses better than we found them.
For Africa, it’s about taking global expertise and turning African problems into African solutions, unlocking the continent’s potential. It also means grooming fresh graduates and enabling them to impact the communities they come from."
Her team delivers ESG solutions across:
Sumaya believes the future lies in technology-enabled ESG integrated into corporate strategy, ensuring businesses are resilient, responsible and future-ready.
Let’s shape a future where growth uplifts everyone.
Partner with SNG Grant Thornton, Turning Growth into Shared Progress.
Associate Director: Sustainability Services | SNG Grant Thornton
