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Safaricom Sustainability Report 2016
11
CEO REVIEW
A YEAR OF TRANSITION AND EVOLUTION
Our goal of transforming lives is the nexus at which our commitment to sustainability and our
commitment to commercial success meets. We do not see these as separate objectives, but as
two sides of the same coin. We cannot continue to transform lives if we are not commercially
sustainable and, equally, we are unlikely to be able to transform lives in a meaningful, lasting
manner if we focus solely on profits and dividends.
Measuring our wider contribution
We cannot succeed in isolation. Our success is thanks to the support of the people of
Kenya as much as it is to our own efforts and, in turn, it ripples back out in support of
Kenyan society. In recognition of this understanding, we are delighted to be able to
articulate this reciprocal relationship for the first time in this year’s report.
Thanks to the fascinating KPMG True Value methodology, we have been able to
quantify both the value we create and erode in the economy, society and the
environment, and consider this alongside the financial value we have generated for
our shareholders.
The full calculation is available on page 22 of this report and it shows that the total
value we created for Kenyan society in FY16 was KSh 414 billion, around 10.86 times
greater than the financial profit the company made. It is also gratifying to learn that
we sustained over 182,883 direct and indirect jobs during the year, a number that
increases to over 845,846 jobs if the wider effects on the economy are included.
The True Value methodology expands the way in which we assess and
communicate our transforming lives mission. It reflects our deepening understanding
of sustainability and our growing need to understand how the way in which our
business operations impact the society and environment in which we operate.
Recognising our weaknesses, as well as our strengths
We also launched our new company strategy this year. We simplified our approach
by reducing our strategic objectives from seven to just three: ‘Customer First’,
‘Relevant Products’ and ‘Operational Excellence’. As much as it is an expression
of our maturing as an organisation, this new approach is a recognition of our
areas of weakness as well. We have been guilty of being an overly network-led or
technology-orientated company at times in the past. We have also been too
focused on developing great products and then searching for customers that
might want to use them.
“We cannot succeed in isolation. Our
success is thanks to the support of the
people of Kenya as much as it is to our
own efforts and, in turn, it ripples back
out in support of Kenyan society.”