* I’m very proud of the strides Airtel Africa has made in advancing our sustainability goals—Group CEO, Segun Ogunsanya
* While targets are vital to driving change, our mission is much bigger — to transform people’s lives
* Through connectivity, products and services fostering digital and financial inclusion while unlocking the potential of the next generation
By Duncan Mlanjira
Airtel Africa, the leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries across Africa, has published its 2024 Sustainability Report, whose key milestones in community sustainability goals include driving financial inclusion for unbanked rural populations by growing Airtel Money’s customer base to 38 million people.
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The report, released today, June 10, shares progress highlights for the company’s four sustainability pillars — ‘Our business’, ‘Our people’, ‘Our community’ and ‘Our environment’ — key sustainability targets that support for its people & communities, promoting financial & digital inclusion and initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of its operations.
Airtel Africa’s outgoing Group CEO, Segun Ogunsanya, is quoted in the statement as saying: “I’m very proud of the strides Airtel Africa has made in advancing our sustainability goals.
“While targets are vital to driving change, our mission is much bigger — to transform people’s lives through connectivity, products and services fostering digital and financial inclusion while unlocking the potential of the next generation.”
On the ‘Our community’, the statement said Airtel Africa’s progress across the continent is transforming the lives of individuals, families, and communities across Africa by building opportunities for better futures — whose key milestones include driving financial inclusion for unbanked rural populations — particularly targeting women, who make up 38% of Airtel Money’s customers in Africa.
It also includes advancing digital learning across Africa through the five-year US$57 million partnership with UNICEF — connecting almost 1,200 schools to the internet and providing free access to online educational platforms to thousands of students in 2023/24.
For ‘Our business’, Airtel Africa continued to expand telecommunications services, supporting economic growth and development across the continent, whose key milestones include growing the customer base to 152.7 million across the 14 markets.
It is also includes attaining ISO 27001 and ISO 22301 certifications which demonstrate Airtel Africa’s compliance with international standards and commitment to data privacy and security.
As well as expanding the 4G network and reaching 70.7% of the population in the markets — a 4.9% increase since 2022/23 and introducing 5G services, now covering 4.14% of customers, primarily in urban areas.
On ‘Our people’ the company is committed to creating a working environment where all employees can achieve their full potential and the key milestones include:
* increasing workforce and leadership diversity, with 35.4% of new or open leadership roles filled by women, raising the representation of women in senior management to 22.3%, up from 19.5% the previous year;
* enhancing diversity and inclusion and advancing female talent through the ‘Women for technology’ programme which benefitted 54 high performing women and resulted in a 21% increase in internal promotions from this group as of March 31, 2024; and
* Investing US$1.2 million in training and development programme.
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In working to address and minimise the impact of the company’s operations through ‘Our environment’ pillar: the key milestones include:
* Publishing the ‘Journey towards a net zero future’ in May 2023 which outlines the scenarios for the reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions while setting out a near-term target to reduce emissions intensity by 62% from March 2022 baseline;
* Announcing the scope 3 strategy in November 2023 which sets out the partners and suppliers’ engagement programme (PSEP) to further advance our engagement with the supply chain;
* Launching the new multi-million data centre business, Nxtra by Airtel, in December 2023 and commencing construction of one of Africa’s largest data centres in Lagos, Nigeria — which will incorporate modern energy efficiencies to complement the ongoing work on reducing carbon emissions across existing sites.
The company emphasises that its Sustainability Report 2024 “adheres to the global reporting initiative (GRI) framework and the GSMA’s recommendations for the telecommunications industry”.
To view Airtel Africa’s Sustainability Report 2024, stakeholders are invited to visit its website, www.airtel.africa.
Airtel Africa presence in 14 countries in Africa — primarily in East, Central and West Africa — offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally.
The Group prides itself as aiming to continue providing a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys.
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