Executive Summary

Welcome to Safaricom’s first Sustainability Report. It is an important landmark, but our sustainability reporting and our sustainability actions will not be one-off events or events in isolation, since setting sustainability targets, benchmarking our progress and reporting back on improvements is now an ongoing activity that is central to our operational culture.

As this is our first report, we do not have performance targets or benchmarks for all of the sustainability risk areas we have identified yet, but these will be defined and refined going forward. We have undertaken a carbon footprint analysis, for instance, and identified key actions that we need to take to manage our carbon footprint, but there is a certain level of uncertainty in the completeness and accuracy of the information and estimates had to be used in instances where the supporting information was not available.

Along with analysing our carbon emissions, we are proactively deploying efficient ‘green’ solutions throughout our operations and facilities. A combination of network-related energy efficiency initiatives has had the cumulative effect of reducing the running hours (and carbon emissions) of our diesel generators by approximately 67%, for example. We have also installed LED lighting in all the main administration facilities, resulting in a substantial 40% reduction in energy consumed. We also seek to offset our environmental impact further through voluntary initiatives, such as community power projects, recycling and re-use activities and reforestation programmes.

We are also proud of the contribution the Safaricom Foundation — an independent charitable trust that delivers on our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) mandate — continues to make towards improving the lives of Kenyans. Particularly noteworthy among the 120 projects implemented by the Foundation this year, was the ‘Kenyans for Kenya’ initiative where the Foundation and the company played a key role in galvanising Kenyans to raise funds for famine relief initiatives.

We appreciate that sustainability is much more than commendable CSI initiatives, nonetheless, and encompasses every aspect of our organisation, including our people, our partners and the services we provide. One example of this is our M-PESA mobile money transfer service. With over 15 million customers and over 39, 000 agent outlets, M-PESA continues to grow in significance and to dramatically improve the way Kenyans carry out their daily activities.

To ensure we can continue to provide services that add value to the lives of Kenyans, our sustained profitability has been used to fund further investment in our infrastructure, with over KShs 25billion of capital expenditure being invested in financial year 2012/13.

We have also made a number of innovations in the way that we listen to, and communicate with, our customers, including our on-line customer care, upgrades to our customer care platforms and continuous training of our call centre and retail centre staff.

Our people are our most valuable assets and recognised as key to the sustainability of the company. This is reflected in our commitment to creating a working environment that supports our staff — freeing them to concentrate on their work and enjoy their achievements. We take a holistic approach and offer employees a wellness programme, crèche facilities, access to subsidised gym facilities, leisure amenities, regular social events, as well as competitive salaries and career opportunities.

We have also signed onto the code of ethics for business in Kenya and made a public commitment to adhere to ethical business practices at every level of the company. We are tough on internal corruption and fraud, but we recognise that we can only be as successful as our environment allows, and that our suppliers and business partners also have an important role to play.

Obviously, regulatory commitments also have a significant impact on our sustainability and we continue to take a lead role in negotiating with government and various regulators, protecting and supporting the industry as a whole through robust, constructive dialogue and positive initiatives.

This report reflects our ongoing commitment to being an outstanding corporate citizen and an acknowledgment that our business practices today must be designed to create and shape a sustainable tomorrow.