Abstract

Objectives: The study aimed to examine the impact of modern internal audit activities -namely, the assurance role, the advisory role, and risk management- on the quality of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sustainability reports in industrial companies. Methods: The study adopted a descriptive-analytical approach, targeting internal auditors in the internal audit departments of Sudanese industrial companies operating in the cement sector, with a total population of (236). A sample of 137 internal auditors was selected, and a questionnaire was used as the primary data collection tool. Results: The study reached several findings, including the existence of a statistically significant impact of modern internal audit activities on the quality of ESG sustainability reports in Sudanese industrial companies, with a determination coefficient (R²) of 0.933. This indicates that modern internal audit activities explain 93.3% of the quality of sustainability reports. Furthermore, the assurance role was found to be the most influential modern internal audit activity in enhancing the quality of sustainability reports, with a coefficient of 0.935. Conclusions: The study recommended the need to focus on modern internal audit activities to improve the quality of sustainability reports in Sudanese industrial companies and to enhance the effectiveness of the assurance role as a modern internal audit activity to ensure the reliability of sustainability reports in these companies.