Safaricom - 2020 Sustainable Business Report

25 INTRODUCTION OUR BUSINESS OUR MATERIAL TOPICS OUR STAKEHOLDERS CONCLUDING REMARKS • We extended our fibre optic cable footprint to 9 000 kilometers and have connected 142 000 homes and 11 911 businesses to our high-speed internet service to date. In addition, we have connected over 10 000 businesses through our 4G LTE service. • We have over 700 000 ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) connections in asset management, utilities and telematics, such as real-time monitoring of stock in cooler cabinets. • We have invested in six portfolio companies to date through our venture capital Spark Fund (Sendy, mSurvey, Eneza, Lynk, Farm Drive and iProcure). 10: Reducing Inequality “Reduce inequality within and among countries.” Key targets: 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. 10.4 Adopt equality-related policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality. 10.C By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent. Our contribution: Reducing inequalities by enabling equal access to opportunities to everyone, especially to vulnerable groups, using Safaricom leadership, network, solutions and technology. Projects: • 50% of our employees, 35% of senior management and 24% of our Technology Division is comprised of women. 2.3% of our employees are persons living with disabilities. • Through our Women in Business (WIB) initiative, we plan to increase the share of our procurement spend going to women-owned businesses to 10%, currently we are at 2.3%. • We have partnered with device suppliers to create affordable smart devices to enable our customers to access internet, such as the Neon Ray (4G), which costs KSh 3 999, and the Neon Nova (4G), which costs KSh 5 999. Currently, 40% of the devices on our network are smartphones (3G- and 4G-enabled), of these 40% are 4G- enabled. • We reduced the cost of data per MB by 28% during the year under review. Responsible Consumption and Production “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.” Key targets: 12.5 By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. 12.6 Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle. Our contribution: Reducing inequalities by enabling equal access to opportunities to everyone, especially to vulnerable groups, using Safaricom leadership, network, solutions, and technology. Projects: • We have collected 299 910 tonnes of solid waste in our administration buildings this year, and 97% was recycled. • We have collected and recycled 1 287 tonnes of e-waste to date (215 tonnes this year). • We have continued to eliminate plastics, with 87 500 pieces of disposable plastic tumblers removed because of the change to reusable water glasses in all customer reception areas. Over 200 000 single-use plastics removed from across the business.