Telecom
Airtel Africa Launches its Long-term Sustainability Strategy, Building on its Corporate Purpose to Transform Lives
Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, has launched a comprehensive sustainability strategy which sets out its detailed plans to improve the lives of millions of people across Africa through digital and financial inclusion and access to education.
The strategy also includes specific goals around environmental protection and the ongoing development of a rewarding, diverse and inclusive workplace.
We have worked hard to identify the technical programmes needed to respond to all our material topics and to have a genuine and positive impact on people and communities across Africa. Our strategy sets specific goals and commitments, and for each of these, we have identified exactly how we will achieve them and the milestones along the way.
Our Board and Executive Committee have been integral to developing this strategy which is fully aligned with the Company’s corporate strategy and plans. We have engaged with our stakeholders throughout the development of the strategy and undertook a detailed stakeholder consultation ahead of this launch.
Our strategy is delivered through four sustainability pillars: ‘Our business’ which reflects our operations and the expansion of our network, ‘Our people’ which sets commitments around employee engagement, development, diversity and inclusion, ‘Our community’ which details our dedication to improving access to education, and ‘Our environment’ which is focused on reducing the environmental impact of our operations.
We have identified six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to which we believe our work will make a genuine and tangible contribution- they are SDG 4: Quality education, SDG 5: Gender equality, SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth, SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, SDG 10: Reduced inequalities, and SDG 12:
Responsible consumption and production.
Segun Ogunsanya, CEO, Airtel Africa, said: “Today is a significant milestone in Airtel Africa’s journey. Our new strategy provides a solid foundation for us to accelerate change for the communities we serve and the environment in which we operate. We have worked closely with our stakeholders to ensure that this strategy is ambitious, robust and credible.
This partnership approach underpins all the work we will deliver through our strategy. We will look to collaborate across the industry, recognising that by working together, we will be able to drive a more significant impact for the people who need it most. We are more committed than ever to ensuring open and honest communication on our progress as Airtel Africa embarks on its long journey towards a more sustainable future.
Goals and commitments
The sustainability strategy includes nine goals and commitments, with corresponding programmes that address the business’ material topics (identified through an extensive consultation at the beginning of the year) and enable the Group to continue delivering sustainable growth and uphold the best governance standards:
- Data security goal: Establish industry-leading data security for our customers through investments in technology and expertise, updated processes and consumer awareness – with focus areas around confidentiality, integrity and availability.
- Service quality goal: Provide underserved communities with access to reliable networks and connectivity through the rollout of new infrastructure and technology, improved fibre connectivity and capacity – with focus areas on service accessibility, delivery and reliability.
- Supply chain goal: Ensure all our suppliers are aligned with our sustainability agenda through programmes to increase supplier disclosure and audit ESG performance – with focus areas on enhanced supplier due diligence and ongoing ESG compliance.
- Commitments to our people: with our ongoing commitment to provide rewarding employment opportunities and to achieve genuine diversity and inclusion at all levels across the business through:
– Delivering equality in our workforce through recruitment and programmes to provide training and advancement for everyone regardless of gender, nationality or disability;
– Providing best practice training and development through upskilling and reskilling initiatives to ensure they can succeed in their future careers. And through supporting female entrepreneurs through training and increasing women’s participation in the technology and engineering sectors;
– Providing the highest standards of health and safety for our employees and contractors through the introduction of a best practice social and health and safety management system, improved policies and full compliance with all legislation and regulation; and,
– Maintaining the highest levels of employee engagement through the introduction of additional channels that provide every one of our people with a voice.
- Digital inclusion goal: significantly improve digital Inclusion across Africa by driving the penetration of mobile, smartphones and home broadband in rural areas through the provision of retail and support services.
- Financial inclusion goal: significantly increase financial inclusion in Africa, with particular support for women through the development of affordable financial products to meet the needs of the un- and under-banked, a reliable service and financial confidence and literacy.
- Access to education goal: helping transform the lives of over one million children through improving access to education – with programmes around connectivity, the provision of zero-rated education content under a five-year UNICEF partnership, connecting 1,400 schools to the internet by 2027, and the adoption and support of schools in all our markets.
- Greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal: Our ambition is to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ahead of the 2050 deadline set out in the Paris Agreement. To do this we must fully identify, measure and reduce our GHG emissions which can only be achieved in partnership with our peers and the wider industry. We will establish and launch a sector leading and credible decarbonisation pathway in 2022, ahead of the publication of our first Sustainability Report.
- Environmental stewardship: Eliminate hazardous waste from our operations, significantly reduce our non-hazardous waste and minimise our water consumption with programmes to replace damaging materials, expand recycling schemes and build employees’ awareness around the protection of our natural resources.
L-R – Engr. Aliyu Yusuf Aboki , Executive Secretary WATRA; Mrs Nneena Ukoa, Head Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission; Hon. Clarence K. Massaquoi, Chairman Board of Commissioners, Liberia Telecommunications Authority; Kelechi Nwankwo, Director Corporate planning, strategy and Risk Management(NCC); Hon. Ben Fofana, Commissioner with oversight responsibility for Licensing and Regulation (LTA); Usman Mamman Director, Licensing & Authorization (NCC) during a courtesy visit to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja on 30th January, 2026.
Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director Telecommunication Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has paid a courtesy visit to the the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja, reinforcing growing cooperation on digital development.
NITDA
Dr. Zavazava was accompanied by the ITU Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Emmanuel Manasseh, as part of the ITU delegation.
The delegation was received on behalf of the Director General of NITDA by the Director of Corporate Planning and Strategy, Dr. Warowei Dimie, alongside other directors of the Agency.
The visit provided a platform for strategic engagement and exchange of ideas on key digital development challenges facing Nigeria, Africa, and other developing regions, with a shared focus on inclusive and sustainable ICT growth.
Speaking on behalf of the NITDA Director General, Dr. Dimie reaffirmed the Agency’s commitment to deepening collaboration with ITU, describing the organisation’s global experience as a valuable asset for transferring tested solutions and best practices to Nigeria’s local context.
He noted that digital skills and capacity building featured prominently in the discussions, as Nigeria pursues its ambitious target of achieving 70 percent digital literacy nationwide by next year, with encouraging progress recorded through partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders.
The adoption of Nigeria’s National Digital Literacy Framework was highlighted as a major milestone, providing a structured and inclusive approach to skills development across different segments of society.
Attention was also drawn to the persistent challenge of limited connectivity in rural and underserved communities, with participants emphasising targeted interventions such as grassroots digital training and the deployment of National Youth Service Corps members as digital literacy ambassadors.
In his remarks, Dr. Zavazava outlined ITU-BDT’s mandate to bridge the digital divide, promote inclusive ICT development, strengthen regulatory frameworks, and support member states in building resilient digital infrastructure.
He noted that these priorities strongly align with Nigeria’s digital transformation aspirations, adding that ITU works across its 194 member states through regional and area offices, including its West Africa office in Dakar, Senegal, and the Africa regional office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dr. Zavazava further highlighted ongoing collaboration with Nigeria on initiatives such as digital skills development, broadband infrastructure mapping, and cybersecurity.
He disclosed that Nigeria is among 11 sub-Saharan African countries benefiting from a €15 million ITU-European Commission project on broadband infrastructure mapping and modelling, while also participating in global cybersecurity drills organised by ITU in partnership with the United Arab Emirates, which attracted over 136 countries in the last edition.
The courtesy visit underscored the importance of sustained collaboration between international development institutions and national agencies, reaffirming the shared commitment of ITU and NITDA to leveraging ICTs for sustainable development, innovation, and inclusive socio-economic growth in Nigeria.
Telecom
Airtel Nigeria Commits to Upgrade of its Network Infrastructure for Improved Quality of Service
Airtel Nigeria has unveiled a robust update on a range of network, infrastructure and technology advancements that position the company at the forefront of quality of service leadership in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry.
Announced at its first media roundtable of 2026, the updates reflect sustained investments made over the past 12 to 24 months and signal an accelerated push to stay ahead of surging data demand in a rapidly digitising economy.
Speaking to senior editors and industry correspondents, Airtel Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh, said the company’s strategy is anchored on deliberate scale, depth and resilience.
“Over the last two years, we have invested with discipline and clarity to strengthen our network nationwide. Those investments are now translating into measurable improvements in performance, customer experience and reach, including in underserved and hard to reach communities,” he said. “In 2026, we are accelerating these upgrades because Nigeria’s data appetite is growing, and leadership in this industry will belong to those who plan ahead.”
At the core of Airtel Nigeria’s quality of service drive is the rapid expansion of its network footprint. Since December 2023, the company has increased the number of network sites by 15.5%, adding 2,242 new sites and bringing its total to nearly 16,711 nationwide. Further deployments are planned in 2026 to strengthen coverage, capacity and resilience across urban and rural locations.
Network capacity upgrades have also reached significant scale. In 2025, Airtel completed capacity enhancements on 30% of its sites, covering over 5032 sites nationwide.
Today, 99% of Airtel Nigeria’s sites deliver high-speed 4G mobile broadband, establishing the operator as a full nationwide 4G network. This year, capacity upgrades are being extended to more sites to sustain performance as data usage continues to rise.
According to Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon, Chief Technology Officer, spectrum depth and optimisation remain critical to network quality. “We have increased our 4G spectrum by 10MHz and we are actively optimising our holdings. These actions allow us to support higher data throughput, better speeds and more consistent service, especially in high-traffic areas,” he said.
Airtel Nigeria is also accelerating its 5G rollout. Over the last three months, the company has more than doubled the number of active 5G sites. The accelerated 5G upgrade happening now will connect the top 20 Nigerian cities to high-speed 5G networks, with a significant part of Airtel’s network in these cities becoming 5G-enabled in the coming year.
Beyond terrestrial infrastructure, Airtel is extending connectivity through space-based solutions. The company has established and signed partnerships with satellite providers OneWeb and Starlink, enabling enterprise-grade connectivity for businesses in remote locations, hard to reach areas and operational outposts. Recently, Airtel announced Nigeria’s first Direct-to-Cell partnership with Starlink, a breakthrough that will allow customers to remain connected while travelling through deep remote areas and enable small rural communities to access Airtel’s digital and fintech services.
The backbone supporting these services continues to expand. Airtel Nigeria has built an extensive fibre footprint across almost all states, developed through years of sustained deployment. Following the announcement to double capital expenditure last year, the company committed to expanding its fibre network by 25%, and intensive rollout activity is ongoing across cities and states. Airtel has also confirmed plans to extend its fibre footprint even further, both within major cities and between states.
A pivotal national milestone is also on the horizon. Nigeria currently relies on a single internet submarine cable landing and breakout point in Lagos. Airtel Nigeria has announced that it will launch a second internet breakout from the South of Nigeria, leveraging the 2Africa submarine cable. In partnership with 2Africa, Airtel will shortly begin carrying internet breakout traffic from Kwa Ibo in Akwa Ibom State.
“This will create a faster and alternative path for large parts of the North and South, improve resilience for the entire ecosystem. Airtel is proud to take the lead in making this happen,” Balsingh said.
Underpinning these advances is a robust IT and cloud backbone. Airtel Nigeria operates an enterprise-grade private cloud with thousands of virtual machines, managing massive storage and compute power across locations.
The infrastructure includes large GPU clusters, supporting AI-driven applications such as fraud detection, intelligent network self-healing and advanced customer analytics.
The company recently announced the upcoming launch of its hyperscaler-ready 38 megawatt data centre in Eko Atlantic. This is designed for Nigeria’s next phase of digital growth, powered by AI.
From a customer access perspective, Airtel Nigeria maintains one of the largest retail footprints in the country. Its products and services are available in over 200,000 outlets nationwide, supported by more than 4,000 exclusive shops across all local government areas and 250 flagship stores.
Balsing added that, “Quality of service today is about resilience, redundancy and intelligence, and that is what Airtel is delivering. From fibre to cloud to satellite-enabled connectivity, we are building a platform that allows Nigerian businesses to scale with confidence, regardless of location.”
He reaffirmed Airtel Nigeria’s long-term commitment to the country. “Our focus is consistent investment, disciplined execution and deep confidence in Nigeria’s future,” he said.
Aside from Singh Dhillon, other members of the Airtel Nigeria leadership on hand with subject matter expertise at the roundtable included Director, Airtel Business, Ogo Ofomata; Director, Marketing, Ismail Adeshina; Director, Information Technology, Kemi Ariyo; and Director, Corporate Communications and CSR, Femi Adeniran.
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