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Bob Collymore says sustainability reporting positions a company within a new group of peers and ignites the interest of a different genre of investors and partners/FILE

Kenya

Safaricom takes lead in Sustainability Reporting

Bob Collymore says sustainability reporting positions a company within a new group of peers and ignites the interest of a different genre of investors and partners/FILE

Bob Collymore says sustainability reporting positions a company within a new group of peers and ignites the interest of a different genre of investors and partners/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 16 – Companies have been urged to adopt Sustainability Reporting which presents a holistic account of their ecosystem like governance and values, innovation and climate change.

This advice was offered on Wednesday by no less than the Chief Executive Officer of East Africa’s biggest company by profit, Safaricom.

Bob Collymore says sustainability reporting positions a company within a new group of peers and ignites the interest of a different genre of investors and partners.

He spoke at the launch of the second Safaricom Sustainability report which highlights that the telecommunications firm has provided a quality lighting solution to more than 15,000 people through M-KOPA Solar which is a GSM-controlled lighting solution; reduced its carbon footprint from 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to 61,000 tonnes and improved its customer experience as measured by its Customer Delight Indices.

“Among the achievements we have registered since we launched our sustainability agenda, is deepening financial inclusion through the launch of M-Shwari which now has over 1.2 million customers, lowering the carbon footprint by converting 34 diesel powered sites to the more efficient ‘power cubes’ and increasing network sites to nearly 3,000,” Collymore announced.

The report which is in line with the Global Reporting Initiative and UN global Compact guidelines, details imperatives and opportunities in network quality, innovation, energy security, employee environment, regulatory environment, customer experience, business partner ecosystem, ethics and values as well as environmental performance.

“Safaricom is not just about registering positive financial performance, but from a strategic perspective we recognise that sustainability continues to be a symbol of our common commitment to our shared future,” Collymore said.

He says that the company has invested Sh24.88 billion in capital expenditure in 2013 and dedicated 90 percent of the investment towards improving quality, capacity and coverage.

The company has increased its sites to 2,905 of which 1,604 are 3G – enabled. He says that the company has also started an ambitious five year programme to build a national metre fibre optic network.

The report says that 34 sites that were powered by diesel generators have been converted to power cubes hybrid energy system in bid to seek energy efficient and renewable energy solutions.

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Collymore also called upon corporates to partner and collaborate with government, civil society labour organisations and the United Nations agencies to take on responsibilities and allocate resources in areas that they previously may not have engaged in, outside of typical Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives.

“An enabling environment for our business is key to our Sustainability thus we continue to engage and dialogue with the government and the communications commission of Kenya to support the industry as a whole,” he said.

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