Safaricom - 2021 Sustainable Business Report

11 SAFARICOM SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS REPORT 2021 //// STANDING TOGETHER: GOING BEYOND / OUR MATERIAL TOPICS / OUR STAKEHOLDERS / KPI SUMMARY MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN As the Chairman of the Board, it is my pleasure to present to you our 10th Sustainable Business Report. The past year has been one of far-reaching changes and extraordinary circumstances. Key among these changes was the retirement of our long-serving Board Chairman Nicholas Ng’ang’a in July 2020. Nicholas served on the Safaricom Board for 16 years, 13 of them as chairman. I would like to pay tribute to Nicholas for dedicated service during his tenure in which he steered the business not only in achieving tremendous success, but also through some of the most difficult times through his astute leadership. While at the helm of the Board he oversaw the growth of shareholders value by 607% and market capitalization to KSh 1.075 trillion which is worth 50% of all the listed firms on the NSE. The other key achievements include growing our network coverage to every corner of Kenya, growing our customer base from six million to over 35 million and keeping the business focussed on its purpose through the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals into our business strategy. We remain committed to sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Board and I thank him for his unwavering commitment to Safaricom and wish him well in his retirement. The other major leadership transition that took place was Peter Ndegwa joining us as the CEO at the start of the 2021 financial year, just after the government had imposed COVID-19 restrictions. This was very challenging; given that he couldn’t meet many of his colleagues face to face. Despite this, the Board is very pleased with how quickly he settled into the role and in particular how he has steered the business in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Most importantly, I’m proud of the work Peter and the team have done in refocusing our business to the needs of our customers through the Customer Obsession journey which has solidified our market leadership position and our market share which stands at 64%. STANDING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC We started the financial year in April 2020 under government-imposed lockdown and we closed the financial year in yet another lockdown. During the year, the Board supported the management actions taken to ensure the wellbeing of our staff, customers, and other stakeholders. I am proud of the actions that Safaricom took, standing with the country and supporting the social distancing measures such as working from home and the use of mobile money for payments, introduced by the government to curb the spread of the virus. I am particularly proud of the support we gave to cushion our customers from the economic impacts of the crisis by zero-rating Person to Person (P2P) M-PESA transactions under KSh 1 000 and setting up the 719 COVID-19 helpline to support Kenyans in understanding how to prevent and manage suspected cases. To keep our distribution channels running, we supported our dealers and agents through provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and a credit facility to ensure they had sufficient capital to keep transacting. Through Safaricom and M-PESA Foundations we stood with our communities and our frontline health workers, as they led the efforts to manage the crisis, through supporting the most vulnerable in the society and donation of Personal Protective Equipment all worth over KSh 339 million. I would like to extend my gratitude to our staff who in their personal capacity donated over KSh 2 million and over 380,000 Bonga Points through the 6000 Strong for the Community Initiative. This donation went a long way to supplement the efforts of our two Foundations by providing food packs to the vulnerable families in the informal settlements. Our main regulators – the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) have been very supportive of our efforts in supporting our customers navigate the crisis, and for this we are grateful. Through allocation of extra frequency by CA, we were able to meet the increased demand for data by our customers working and learning from home. A conducive regulatory environment is important for the growth of our business and the sector at large, especially considering the rapidly evolving technologies and needs of our customers and the society. We are committed to building a resilient and world class network infrastructure that will support our country’s economic development. This has been demonstrated by the sustained capex investment, targeting expansion of the data network coverage and capacity enhancements. The disruption initiated by the pandemic has meant that we have had to focus on the future of our business and how we can positively impact our stakeholders. Take micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for example. They are the backbone of our economy and yet the COVID-19 pandemic really hit them hard. The Board, together with the CEO and the management team, have been working on strategies on how to position Safaricom to be future-fit by providing products and services that will help MSMEs and our other stakeholders rebuild. MICHAEL JOSEPH Chairman and Non-Executive Director Safaricom PLC “We are committed to building a resilient and world class network infrastructure that will support our country’s economic development.”