WHAT THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS MEAN TO US

The integration of the SDGs has taught us to view sustainable development as a business response to the challenges we face as a society — to use business driven approaches to create lasting economic growth to address social needs and empower communities.

Last year, we identified nine SDGs to integrate into our business operations and drafted a purpose statement to articulate how our commitment to sustainability fits within our business strategy. The following three pages provide a brief overview of these nine goals and how we have interpreted/integrated them, together with examples of specifi c contributions we have made towards them during the year.

What are the Sustainable Development Goals?

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 ‘Global Goals’ that describe how we can work together as countries, businesses and individuals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs

The Goal:

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

What it means to us:

Leverage our mobile technologies to transform lives by improving access to quality and affordable healthcare services and by promoting wellbeing for all.

Examples of our contribution:

• Over 916,000 low-income earners are able to save towards their healthcare expenses using M-Tiba.
• More than 95% of the company has received health and wellbeing training and support

The Goal:

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

What it means to us:

Expand access to education through innovative solutions, our network and partnerships.

Examples of our contribution:

• More than 2.8 million students have accessed information and services through our USSD-based education platform, Shupavu 291.
• Over 43,000 refugee students have accessed highquality educational content for free through our Instant Network Schools programme.

The Goal:

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

What it means to us:

Increase use of clean energy at our network sites and leverage technology to provide clean energy solutions to a greater proportion of Kenyan citizens, including facilitation of payments for local and renewable energy solutions.

Examples of our contribution:

• 155 network sites already powered by solar/wind hybrid renewable energy solutions.
• More than 1.2 million households are using M-KOPA Solar for clean, green domestic lighting on a pay-asyou-go basis.

The Goal:

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

What it means to us:

Provide decent work within Safaricom and its broader ecosystem. Ensure all employees are empowered and able to thrive.

Examples of our contribution:

• 102,337 merchants trading using our payment platform during the year.
• Over 20 million customers making an average of 11 transactions per month using our M-PESA mobile money platform.
• All guarding contracts receive a living wage.

The Goal:

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.

What it means to us:

Deliver connectivity and innovative products and services of unrivalled quality to meet the needs of Kenyans.

Examples of our contribution:

• Over 96% of the population of Kenya is now able to access 2G services and 86% is now able to access 3G services.
• More than 141,700 Kenyan homes now able to access high speed broadband connectivity through our fibre optic network.

The Goal:

Reduce inequality within and among countries.

What it means to us:

Reduce inequalities by providing everyone with equal access to opportunities, especially vulnerable groups, using our leadership, network, technologies and solutions.

Examples of our contribution:

• 50% of employees and 32% of senior management working at Safaricom are women.
• 57 women have received additional support and mentorship through our Women in Leadership programme, which aims to grow female representation in senior management to 50% parity by 2020.
• More than 324,000 affordable devices, such as the Neon Kicka, sold during the year to help low-income earners access mobile services.
• We increased the number of women-owned businesses from which we purchase from 20 to 39 during the year and our target is to ensure women-owned businesses account for 10% of procurement spend by 2020.

The Goal:

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

What it means to us:

Manage our operations responsibly, decreasing our environmental impact and promoting responsible behaviour among all our stakeholders.

Examples of our contribution:

• Over 7 million retail plastic bags replaced with ecofriendly, reusable carry bags.
• Over 97% of the waste generated within our administrative buildings in Nairobi is now recycled or reused through our Zero waste to landfill programme.
• 20 ‘green’ jobs created through our integrated waste management programme.
• Sea-based shipping now accounts for 66% of total imports (more environmentally friendly than air- or land-based transportation).
• We have collected over 855 tonnes of e-waste since 2013.

The Goal:

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

What it means to us:

Manage our operations responsibly and ethically and fight corruption in all its forms.

Examples of our contribution:

• 98% of suppliers have signed up to the Code of Ethics for Businesses in Kenya.
• 100% of high-risk suppliers have been assessed for sustainable business practices (ethics, labour laws, welfare and human rights).
• Actively working to prevent fraud by accurately registering SIM cards through our Know Your Customer campaign.

The Goal:

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

What it means to us:

Partner with people, organisations and nations to build our collective capacity to promote and advance the SDGs.

Examples of our contribution:

• Safaricom is a key member and supporter of the B Team and the B Team – Africa, alliances of business leaders who are committed to responsible and sustainable business practices.
• We hosted a series of SDG-themed forums for our business partners and suppliers during the year to help raise awareness of the goals.

The Safaricom SDG Purpose Statement

“We commit to deliver connectivity and innovative products and services (SDG9) that will provide unmatched solutions to meet the needs of Kenyans by enabling access (SDG10) through our technologies and partners (SDG17) and by exploring opportunities in Health (SDG3), Education (SDG4) and Energy (SDG7). We will do so by managing our operations responsibly (SDG12) and ethically (SDG16). This will stimulate growth and generate value (SDG8) for our company, society and economy.”