Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa has called on partners, employers and stakeholders to align their business with the Sustainable Development Goal as they sought for sustainable prosperity.
Speaking during the launch of 2022 Sustainable Business Report, Ndegwa said they are leveraging the power of partnerships to design, co-create and develop meaningful products and services that deliver social impact and unlock new opportunities that align with their priority SDGs.
“It is through such innovations and partnerships that we have seen the value we created for Kenyan society increase to Sh727 billion, approximately 10 times greater than our financial profit,” he said.
The 2022 Sustainable Business Report is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative which provides the world’s most widely used standards for sustainability reporting.
“Our sustainable business report is about transparently talking about our successes and our setbacks, all of which are important to our business and of interest to our various stakeholders. This year’s theme, ‘Partnering for Growth; Transforming Lives’, is about recognising the power of partnerships and collaboration in solving societal issues and driving responsible and sustainable businesses,” observed Ndegwa.
The Telco affirmed the reality faced through inter-connected global challenges shifting focus from surviving the COVID-19 pandemic to co-existing with the disease.
Karen Basiye, the Director, Sustainable Business and Social Impact at Safaricom revealed that the Economic growth continues to be impacted due in large part to the impact of the war in Ukraine, the related impact on commodity prices and the associated increase in import costs.
Basiye states that the SDGs give the framework through which the telco builds its overall corporate strategy.
“On the Environment Front, our carbon footprint has gone up by 10.5 per cent which is attributed to the recurrent power outages that forced us to use diesel and our aggressive network expansion. We also have a few sites running on diesel 24/7,” she said.
“In addition, another poor rainy season in Kenya hampered crop production, further compounding the economic situation. Despite these challenges we continue to show resilience and commitment to ensure we remain a purpose-led responsible and sustainable business, that transforms lives of the people we serve,” Basiye stated.
Ndegwa called partners to support the society claiming to be in the loop of the climate change which has been blamed for the current drought. Pleading for adjustment in behavior to help mitigate the crises to help control famine or alter the course of climate shifts already currently witnessed.
“We are committed to decarbonise our operations because we use a lot of fossil fuels considering the main component used in cement processing,” Bamburi Cement CEO, Sadic Hassani alluded.
“The value of coming together is the key drive in achieving the SDGs. KCB is committed to partnering with Safaricom to solidify commitments,” said KCB CEO Paul Russo.