In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s interesting to see how companies are framing their narratives around it. One way to measure this is by analyzing how often key pandemic-related terms, like “COVID,” “pandemic,” or “lockdown,” appear in annual reports over time. We also normalise the frequency of these words to account for variations in the length of annual reports. For South Africa’s top companies, listed on the JSE Top 40 index, these terms were common in the early years of the pandemic as firms detailed its impact on their operations, supply chains, and financials. In recent reports, pandemic-related terms are far less common (even if we weight counts based on company revenue as in the second chart). When mentioned, it’s often in reference to lessons learned, improvements in crisis response, or as part of a broader risk management discussion. For many companies, the pandemic is no longer a central theme, with content shifting toward growth and innovation in the post-pandemic era.
Compiled by Johan Hanekom
