Safaricom - 2020 Sustainable Business Report

SAFARICOM 2020 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS REPORT 4 INTRODUCTION OUR BUSINESS OUR MATERIAL TOPICS OUR STAKEHOLDERS CONCLUDING REMARKS The purpose of this report We publish an annual sustainable business report to disclose the progress we have made towards our goal of building a more sustainable future. Since 2012, we have been documenting our sustainability journey because we believe in holding ourselves accountable by sharing our successes, our challenges, and our constraints in a public, transparent and open manner. We also publish this report because we believe that we have a duty to raise awareness of the sustainability challenges we face as a society and to ensure that these remain part of the discussion in Kenya and internationally. This report is also an explicit responsibility of our continued membership of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) and the Global Compact Network Kenya (GCNK). It also reflects our commitment to the vision and efforts of the B Team – Africa and is also an expression of our belief in the principles enshrined in the Code of Ethics for Business in Kenya. The theme of this report Our theme for this report is Resilience through transition . It highlights how we faced significant disruption during the year, but the foundations of the business proved to be resilient and strong. Our leadership team was disrupted by the passing of our CEO, Bob Collymore, at the start of July 2019, but successfully navigated the turbulence of this sudden loss and the transition to the appointment of his successor, Peter Ndegwa. We are grateful to Michael Joseph, who demonstrated his strong leadership during this unexpected period of change and transition. Against the backdrop of the continued disruption we face in the telecommunications industry, we also had to contend with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during the later stages of the year. Our theme also reflects our belief that embracing the ideals of sustainable business, shared value thinking and the SDGs is essential to cultivating the resilience necessary to combat large-scale crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The information in this report This report is divided into four sections. The first section provides an Executive Summary or overview of the information contained in this report, including a snapshot of our sustainable business-related areas of focus and performance during the year and messages from our executive leadership. The second section provides an overview of Our Business and describes what sustainable business means to us. It includes an explanation of how sustainable business practices fit into our corporate strategy and business model. It also features an assessment of our wider socio-economic and environmental impact, including the value we create for Kenyan society (using the KPMG “True Value” methodology). The third section details Our Material Topics – the most important environmental, social, economic and governance imperatives and opportunities we face as a sustainable business. Each of these topics is described in detail, including how it influences us and how we respond to it as an organisation. The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continue to guide and inform our commitment to sustainable business and our areas of focus during the year (see page 22 for more detail). We have included references to the goals to which we have aligned our efforts in each of the topics in this section again this year. The fourth section provides insight into Our Stakeholder Engagement . We divide the broad community of individuals, communities and organisations that are most affected by, or most likely to influence, our business into seven categories. The nature of our relationship with each stakeholder group is described in detail and we assess how we have delivered value to them during the year.