Artificial Intelligence Adoption in Sustainability Reporting: Opportunities and Challenges for African Small-Medium Entreprises

In the context of growing environmental accountability and digital innovation, artificial intelligence is increasingly recognized as a transformative capability within organizational sustainability practices. In particular, its integration into sustainability reporting processes has emerged as a strategic lever for enhancing transparency, efficiency, and decision-making. This study aims to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with the integration and optimization of AI technologies for sustainability reports. A qualitative study was conducted through eighteen interviews with managers from diverse small and medium-sized enterprises, drawing on the Resource-Based View to conceptualize. The findings reveal major opportunities, including resource optimization, improving organizational performance, and facilitating competitive differentiation. However, several critical challenges were identified, including the lack of digital infrastructure, limited access to skilled human capital, high implementation costs, and weak institutional support, particularly within African contexts where sustainability data remain fragmented and under digitized. These insights underscore the dual necessity, both technological and economic, of equipping SMEs with the foundational capabilities required to harness AI for robust sustainability reporting, thereby supporting their vital contribution to inclusive and sustainable development.