Airtel Africa, a telecommunications and mobile money services provider across 14 African countries, has released its 2024 Sustainability Report. The report outlines the company’s progress in various sustainability areas, including its workforce, community engagement, and environmental impact.
One notable aspect of the report is Airtel Africa’s growth in customer base, which now stands at 152.7 million. This expansion has led to the attainment of ISO 27001 and ISO 22301 certifications, ensuring compliance with international standards and a commitment to data privacy and security.
The company’s telecommunications services have also seen significant network expansion, with its 4G network now reaching 70.7% of the population in its markets, a 4.9% increase since 2022/23.
Airtel Africa has also made efforts to promote diversity and inclusion within its workforce. The company has increased the representation of women in senior management to 22.3%, up from 19.5% the previous year. This is a positive step towards creating a more inclusive work environment.
Additionally, the company has introduced initiatives such as the ‘Women for Technology’ programme, which has benefitted 54 high-performing women and resulted in a 21% increase in internal promotions from this group as of 31 March 2024.
The company’s financial inclusion initiatives have also been notable. Airtel Africa has grown its Airtel Money customer base to 38 million people, particularly significant for the financial inclusion of women in Africa, who make up 38% of Airtel Money’s customers.
This growth has been driven by the company’s commitment to providing financial services to unbanked populations, helping to bridge the financial inclusion gap in Africa.
Airtel Africa has also made significant investments in digital learning across Africa.
The company has partnered with UNICEF in a five-year $57 million initiative to connect almost 1,200 schools to the internet and provide free access to online educational platforms to thousands of students in 2023/24.
This partnership aims to advance digital learning across Africa, providing students with access to quality education and helping to bridge the digital divide.
The company has also made efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Airtel Africa has published its ‘Journey towards a net zero future’ in May 2023, outlining scenarios for the reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions and setting a near-term target to reduce emissions intensity by 62% from March 2022 baseline.
Airtel has also announced its scope 3 strategy, which sets out the partners and suppliers’ engagement programme (PSEP) to further advance engagement with the supply chain.
Additionally, Airtel Africa has launched its new multi-million data centre business, Nxtra by Airtel, in December 2023 and commenced construction of one of Africa’s largest data centres in Lagos, Nigeria, which will incorporate modern energy efficiencies to complement ongoing work on reducing carbon emissions across existing sites.
