1. For the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
Environmental,
Social and
Governance
Report
2. About this report 3
Materiality approach 5
Environmental, social and governance disclosures
The environmental, social and governance (ESG) report, the ESG addendum,
and climate and Task Force on climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
remuneration, corporate governance and tax transparency reports collectively
provide stakeholders with material information and commentary on Vodacom’s
ESG practices to ensure they can make informed assessments of our
performance.
Contents
Social and Ethics Committee approval
The Social and Ethics Committee accepts responsibility for the integrity of this
report as part of Vodacom’s broader ESG reporting.
The committee reviewed the ESG report’s content, relying on the assurance
provided by management on the reporting elements. Based on this, we believe
that this report addresses our material matters and sub-matters, is a fair and
balanced representation of Vodacom’s ESG practices, and demonstrates how
these practices seek to mitigate value destruction and create sustainable value
and prosperity for our stakeholders, in line with our purpose.
The Social and Ethics Committee, authorised by the Board, approved this report
on 7 June 2024.
Leanne Wood
Non-executive director
Nomkhita Nqweni
Independent director
Shameel Joosub
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Khumo Shuenyane
Committee chairman,
lead independent director
Sakumzi Macozoma
Group Chairman
Joakim Reiter
Non-executive director
Purpose
Empowering people 21
Closing the digital divide 22
Pursing ubiquitous coverage
Increasing smartphone ownership
Addressing digital gaps
Empowering our customers 26
Delivering platforms for financial inclusion
Supporting SMEs to thrive in a digital world
Digitalising large organisations and critical sectors
Supporting communities 34
Enabling education
Helping people with disabilities
Helping people experiencing abuse
Our ESG approach and impact
Our ESG framework 13
Contributing to the UN SDGs 14
Measuring our impact 16
Delivering our purpose 19
Leadership reflections on ESG
CEO reflections on ESG 6
Reflections from the Social and Ethics Committee 9
Protecting the planet 39
Responding to climate change 40
Managing climate-related risks and opportunities
Advocating for change
Delivering net zero operations
(scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions)
42
Driving energy efficiencies
Switching to renewables
Managing diesel use
Managing scope 3 GHG emissions 46
Working with partners to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions
Enabling our customers to reduce their GHG emissions
Driving circularity 47
Circulatory of network waste
Circulatory of devices
Reducing virgin plastic use
Managing general waste
Using water responsibly
Supporting biodiversity 49
Understanding and managing our impact
Supporting biodiversity protection
Maintaining trust 51
Doing business ethically 52
Promoting ethical conduct
Managing disciplinary and grievance processes
Complying with policies and controls
Developing our employees 57
Fostering workplace equality
Developing employee skills
Living the Spirit of Vodacom
Protecting privacy and data 62
Managing data privacy
Managing cyber security
Protecting people 69
Managing health and safety
Respecting human rights
Promoting responsible and inclusive procurement 75
Managing our supply chain
Supporting local economic development
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Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 1
3. Read Vodacom’s integrated reporting suite
ESG disclosures
We provide detailed ESG disclosures in our various topic-specific reports to meet the
information needs of a wide range of stakeholders:
y ESG report
y ESG addendum
y ESG addendum methodology
y Climate and TCFD report
Read more on our website at
www.vodacom.com.
REM Read more in our
Remuneration report
IR Read more in our
integrated report
Read more in this report
GOV Read more in our Corporate
Governance report
TCFD Read more in our
Climate and TCFD report
Our reporting suite meets the
diverse information needs of
Vodacom Group Limited’s
(Vodacom or the Group)
stakeholders. This enables the
Group’s stakeholders to fairly
assess our financial and
sustainability performance
for the financial year ended
31 March 2024.
Our
reporting
suite
ESG Read more in our
ESG addendum
Integrated reporting disclosures
Our integrated report serves as our primary communication with
our stakeholders and is complemented by additional disclosures
in our reporting suite.
Financial disclosures
We provide detailed information
relating to our financial position
and performance in the following
reports and presentations:
y Annual consolidated financial
statements
y Summarised condensed
consolidated financial
statements
y Financial results booklet and
results presentation
Shareholder information
We provide shareholders
with valuable information
to support their
participation at our annual
general meeting through
the following documents:
y Notice of annual general
meeting
Where to find more
information:
y Corporate governance report
y Remuneration report
y Tax transparency report
y OpCos ESG snapshots
TAX Read more in our
Tax transparency report
For the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
Environmental,
Social and
Governance
Report
For the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
Tax Transparency
Report
For the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
Remuneration
Report
19229_VC TCFD 2024 • Proof 3 • June 13, 2024 9:20 PM BM
For the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
Climate and
TCFD Report
19229_VC IR 2024 – PROOF 9 – June 13, 2024 6:17 pm
For the year ended
31 March 2024
VodacomGroupLimited
Integrated Report
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 2
Watch a video
4. South African Companies Act, 2008, as amended
(Companies Act) (specifically the Social and Ethics
Committee obligations)
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and the
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol
JSE Sustainability and Climate Disclosure Guidance
Broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE)
and the Amended Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) Sector Code1
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Aboutthisreport
The nature of ESG matters, frameworks and
reporting obligations continues to evolve, and
we will continue refining our reporting approach.
Reporting period and forward-looking statements
This report covers the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 (FY2024).
Any notable or material events after this date and up to the approval of this report on 7 June 2024 are included and noted
accordingly. Statements relating to future operations and the Group’s performance are not guarantees of future operating,
financial or other results. They involve uncertainty as they are based on assumptions of future developments, some of
which are beyond our control. Therefore, the results and outcomes may differ.
Disclosure process and assurance approach
Our ESG disclosures are prepared under the
supervision of senior and executive
management, led by the Group Chief Officer:
Regulatory and External Affairs, and are subject
to a robust internal review process.
We begin our reporting process by reviewing
our material matters for integrated and ESG
reporting, which is informed by reviewing the
Group’s operating context, the Group’s strategy,
requirements of relevant standards and
guidance, stakeholder needs, and inputs from
relevant external research and the Group’s
performance as assessed by ESG rating
providers.
Content gathering for these disclosures
included outputs from the Group’s strategy
review, drawing from Board and Board
committee submissions, including those of the
Social and Ethics; Audit, Risk and Compliance;
and Remuneration committees, and through
engagements with, and submissions from,
business units and operating entities.
In line with their respective mandates, the
Social and Ethics, Remuneration, Nomination,
and Audit, Risk and Compliance committees
review and recommend specific reports to the
Board for approval.
We apply a risk-based combined assurance
approach to the Group’s operations. We ensure
the accuracy of disclosures in published
reports through internal controls, management
assurance, and compliance and internal audit
reviews, supported by independent external
service providers.
We have the following certifications in place:
ISO 50001:2018 Energy management systems
(South Africa, Egypt, Tanzania, DRC,
Mozambique and Lesotho), ISO 270001:2022
Information security, cyber security and privacy
protection (South Africa, Egypt and Tanzania),
ISO 45003:2021 Psychological health and
safety at work (Egypt) and align our health and
safety systems to ISO 45001:2018
Occupational health and safety management
systems; ISO 9001:2015 Quality management
systems certification (South Africa); and ISO
14001:2015 Environmental management
systems (Midrand campus in South Africa).
KPMG Inc conducted limited assurance on
select ESG metrics and the information relating
to the scope and conclusions are in the
independent limited assurance report in our
ESG addendum.
Our transformation performance in South
Africa was independently verified by
EmpowerLogic and we retained our Level 1
status.
Read more about the SDGs on Page 14
ESG ESG addendum GRI index
ESG ESG addendum JSE tab
The King IV Report on Corporate Governance™
for South Africa, 2016 (King IV)
Taskforce for Climate-related Financial
Disclosures (TCFD) (to be superseded by the
International Sustainability Standards Board’s
S2 Climate-related Standards Disclosure in
FY2025 (ISSB S2))
United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
We provide information in terms of the following
within the various reports listed alongside:
GOV Corporate governance report
TCFD Climate and TCFD report
UNGC communication on progress
We acknowledge that a broad range of stakeholders have
specific information requirements of our sustainability
performance. In this report and other ESG-related disclosures
and in our reporting suite, we take guidance from various
reporting regulations, standards, and frameworks to report
on our material ESG impacts in a broadly accepted manner:
Target audience and reporting frameworks
Read the Group’s B-BBEE certificate on
our website
ESG ESG addendum
ESG ESG addendum B-BBEE tab
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 3
5. Scope and boundary
This ESG report, the ESG addendum,
and the climate and TCFD,
remuneration, corporate governance
and tax transparency reports provide
our stakeholders with a comprehensive
view of the Group’s ESG performance.
Similar to our financial reporting
boundary, disclosures are defined by
control and significant influence over
the entities.
The information included in this report
relates to our activities at a Group level,
and includes disclosure specific to one
or more of our operating companies
(OpCos) in South Africa, Egypt, Tanzania,
DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho. We
reflect select Safaricom1
information,
which is noted accordingly.
1.
Vodacom has an effective holding
of 34.9% in Safaricom Kenya and 6.2%
in Safaricom Ethiopia.
Governance of ESG
The Board and committee responsibilities across ESG are defined below.
Board
The Board exercises ethical leadership and sound judgement to grow our business sustainably.
It evaluates how our strategy supports the delivery of the Group’s purpose and the associated
ESG risks and opportunities that impact our business.
The Executive Committee is ultimately accountable for the execution of ESG action with
accountabilities assigned to the relevant executives.
The Executive Committee is supported by the Group Executive ESG and Reputation
Committee, which is an extension of the Group Executive Committee in which all OpCo
Chief Executive Officers and other senior leaders participate.
Executive Committee
Remuneration Committee
The committee
y Oversees fair and responsible pay
practices.
y Ensures that ESG-related performance
measures for the senior leadership
team are aligned with the envisioned
ESG outcomes resulting from the
execution of the Group’s strategy.
Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
The committee
y Oversees the management of
identified ESG-related risks within the
enterprise risk management
framework.
y Considers ESG-related matters for
investments and expansions into new
countries of operation.
Social and Ethics Committee
The committee
y Is primarily responsible for overseeing
the Group’s ESG approach and its
execution.
y Oversees the implementation against
key policies of the ESG approach,
including Vodacom’s ethical conduct,
environmental, stakeholder
engagement, social and economic
development and financial crime and
health and safety, among others.
Nomination Committee
The committee oversees the application
of the governance principles as defined
by King IV.
Financial reporting boundary
ESG and integrated reporting boundary
Subsidiaries Joint ventures Associates
Vodacom Group
Vodacom Group
Informed by the legitimate needs of our stakeholders
Vodacom purpose
Vodacom purpose
Protecting the planet
Empowering people
Maintaining trust
Maintaining trust
through responsible business practices
through responsible business practices
y Investors
y Government
and regulators
y Employees
y Society
y Planet
y Customers
y Strategic and
business partners
Delivered by our people
Underpinned by sound governance
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 4
6. Materiality
approach
We review our materiality assessment annually using
a double materiality approach. This comprised an
inward lens (material matters impacting Vodacom’s
ability to create value) and an outward lens (material
matters impacting society and the environment).
IR Read more about the process and detail
of our material matter in the integrated report Page 8
Our response
Associated
material
matters
Where our operations negatively impact
the environment, we aim to mitigate these
negative impacts
y Energy supply security, consumption and
transition to renewable energies
y Electronic and electrical waste (e-waste)
and circular economy
y Sustainable building management
y Climate change
y Water and biodiversity
We seek to provide digital solutions to help our
customers manage their environmental impacts
y Environmental benefit from products and services
such as reduced emissions, reduced waste, and
improved land use (agriculture)
Environment
TCFD Climate and
TCFD report
Protecting the planet
Page 39
MM1
MM3
MM5
MM7
Accelerated growth of digital and financial inclusion
will be delivered through ongoing innovation and
partnerships. We aim to positively impact
communities and society while remaining mindful
of potential negative effects
y Customer relationships, satisfaction and selling
practices
y Affordability and accessibility of products and
services
y Human rights
y Stakeholder engagements
y Diversity and inclusion with a focus on gender, race
(South Africa only), disability and economically
marginalised groups
y Social benefit from products and services such as
financial and digital inclusion as well as access to
education
Social
Network and technology resilience are
critical to delivering customer service
y Availability, quality, reliability and security
y An enabled digital society
Our success depends on our employees’
welfare, skills and attitude
y Employee engagement
y Employee rights/fair labour practices
y Developing and empowering our
employees
y Employee acquisition, retention and
remuneration (scarce and critical skills)
y Health, safety and well-being of our
employees, suppliers, and communities
y Diverse and inclusive workplace
Empowering people
Page 21
Maintaining trust Page 51
REM Remuneration
report
Governance
Ensuring that we comply with and keep abreast of local laws and regulations means we can
continue operating ethically and responsibly
y Corporate governance
y Business conduct and ethics
y Data privacy and security including
acceptable use of customer data
y Business resilience
y Cyber security
Maintaining trust Page 51
GOV Governance
report
MM1
Financial and digital
inclusion
MM2
Network and technology
resilience
MM3
Accelerating growth while
enhancing returns
MM4 Competitive environment
MM2
MM3
MM8
MM8
MM5
MM6
MM8
While some of the Group’s material matters as reflected in our
integrated report deal directly with an aspect of ESG, such as
financial and digital inclusion, or encompass a specific aspect of
ESG as a sub-component, for example responding to climate change
within network and technology resilience, the introduction of the
material matter increased focus on ESG reflects the increasing
expectation for companies to be purpose-led, embody stakeholder
capitalism, and to factor ESG matters more broadly into strategy,
business planning and operations. Following which, companies
must measurably report on their progress in a manner which reflects
the rigour of financial reporting.
The inclusion of the increased focus on ESG as a material matter
recognises the shift to increased guidance and regulation of ESG
and its integration into enterprise value. The requirements are
increasingly more targeted with an expectation for companies
to standardise their disclosure of ESG performance. We continue
to assess local developments, such as guidance issued by financial
regulatory authorities, global disclosure developments led by the
ISSB and regional developments from the European Union which
are anticipated to impact Vodacom through its majority
shareholder, Vodafone.
y Legal and regulatory compliance
y Tax compliance
y Responsible sourcing
y Supply chain management (including disruptions)
MM5
Economic and political
landscape
MM6
Complex regulatory
environment
MM7 Our employees
MM8 Increased focus on ESG
Within each material matter we map ESG-related matters and topics that may not have a material
financial impact (affecting enterprise value for the integrated report) but are deemed relevant for ESG
disclosure and are dealt within this report and our ESG addendum. Selected ESG-related matters,
most notably governance, remuneration, climate change and tax transparency, are cross-referenced
to topic-specific disclosures in our reporting suite or to information on our corporate website.
ESG ESG addendum
ESG ESG addendum
ESG ESG addendum
TAX Tax transparency
report
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 5
7. Refining our purpose
In FY2024, we reviewed our purpose ambitions, affirming Vodacom’s
commitment to supporting an inclusive, sustainable and trusted digital
society where individuals and businesses can thrive. We updated our
purpose pillars to focus on empowering people and protecting the planet
which are underpinned by our efforts to maintain and enhance trust
through responsible business practices.
We believe connectivity is a force for good. It is an essential part of our
lives. If we use technology for the things that really matter, it can improve
our lives and the world around us. Our ambition is to empower people, help
protect the planet, and maintain and enhance trust with our stakeholders
through our connectivity and technology.
This report reflects on our progress against our purpose and ESG ambitions.
We are pleased that in FY2024 we continued to be recognised by leading
ESG rating agencies, who independently assess our efforts. Some of these
recognitions include:
y Sustainalytics considers Vodacom a low ESG risk.
y We retained our ESG leader AAA rating from MSCI and improved our
ISS rating to Prime.
y We were proud that Vodacom was recognised for leadership in
addressing climate change and was awarded an A- rating in the latest
CDP climate change assessment, recognising our progress in assessing
and managing our environmental impacts, risks and opportunities.
We achieved this through the three strategic ambitions of our multi-
product strategy – the System of Advantage – and our commitment
to responsible business practices. In executing our strategy, we deliver
products and services that contribute to sustainable socioeconomic
development and better lives in all the countries where we operate.
We seek to create powerful partnerships with governments, like-minded
businesses and civil society to increase our scale and impact further.
Africa is plagued in many countries with high levels of
unemployment, gender inequality, income disparity and
limited access to education, healthcare and essential
services. Increasing extreme weather events, such as flooding
and droughts, are negatively impacting economies and
people. The global macroeconomic environment is
undeniably precarious, characterised by ongoing geopolitical
tensions, supply chain disruptions, high inflation and interest
rates, energy uncertainty and foreign exchange rate volatility.
This challenging operating context informs our purpose and
drives our strategy. As a growth-oriented company, we
navigate adversities with resilience and adaptability,
reimagining problems to create inclusive opportunities
enabled by digital connectivity. This mindset is a key enabler
of our success and our ability to support a more equitable
future in Africa.
Over the past 30 years, Vodacom has been
a leader in enabling connectivity and
creating innovative digital and financial
services which have changed millions of
lives. Through our purpose to connect for
a better future, we aim to leverage digital
technologies to drive inclusion into the
future for the betterment of people and
the planet.
CEOreflections
onESG
Shameel Joosub
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 6
8. CEO reflections on ESG continued
Combining the strength in connectivity with digital and financial
services creates a rich ecosystem that promotes the inclusion of
individuals and enterprises. This will enable us to support
livelihoods and help society connect for a better future.
Our financial services foster inclusion by creating an ecosystem
that empowers consumers and merchants with products, including
e-Commerce, payments, savings, investments, lending and
insurance services. As key drivers of this ecosystem, our super-
apps – VodaPay, Vodafone Cash and M-Pesa – integrate our
products and services with our partners’ best offerings. Our
expanding financial services ecosystem connects 78.9 million
customers and facilitates US$1.1 billion a day in mobile money
transaction value, demonstrating the Group’s clear leadership in
the African fintech space.
Our enterprise solutions support large enterprises, small and
medium enterprises (SMEs), governments and universities through
mobile and fixed connectivity and our complementary digital and
financial services. Our progress in transforming enterprise through
digital technology was reflected in the uptake of our cloud,
hosting and security solutions. Our Tech for Good solutions drive
the digitalisation of healthcare, agriculture and energy. We believe
partnerships, like our recent strategic partnership with Microsoft,
will accelerate our Internet of Things (IoT), cloud and SME
offerings.
We partner with governments and other stakeholders across our
OpCos to provide innovative solutions enabled by technology. Our
Tech for Good solutions enable inclusion and address challenges
across critical industries, including healthcare, education and
agriculture.
Technological innovations improve efficiencies and productivity
for healthcare service providers and promote access to quality
facilities. Notable initiatives include our stock visibility services in
South Africa, m-mama for maternal and neonatal emergencies in
Tanzania and Lesotho, digitalising Universal Health Insurance (UHI)
in Egypt. We are working with the Vodafone Foundation, United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and local
governments to expand m-mama, a technology-based emergency
transport system, to more African countries.
With connectivity at our core, we continue to make substantial progress in
empowering people. By leveraging partnerships and innovative financing
models, we are expanding coverage and smartphone adoption, which will
enable scaled, digital inclusion over the medium term.
Our customer base reached 203.1 million1
, and our efforts to foster digital
inclusion were reflected in the scale of our data and smartphone customer
bases, which reached 106.4 million and 97.3 million, respectively1
.
We are expanding our mobile coverage and, through our intended
partnership with Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH), fixed
offering to provide network connectivity that matches the increase in our
customers’ data adoption and volume demands. In FY2024, we invested
R20.4 billion (FY2023: R16.5 billion) in increasing network reach,
resilience and capacity. Group 4G sites increased 7.4% with majority of
these in our International business.
Energy availability proved an incremental challenge to network resilience
in FY2024. Inconsistent grid availability in South Africa was compounded
by emerging pressures in Egypt. We deployed energy resilience initiatives
to maintain service levels and our leading network Net Promotor Score
(NPS) position in 4 of our 6 markets is a testament to our best-in-class
execution when challenges arise.
Supported by innovative rural funding partnerships, we remain committed
to investing in infrastructure to increase our 4G coverage by an additional
70 million people across our footprint as part of the International
Telecommunication Union’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition. In FY2024,
we rolled out 2 306 4G base stations in the countries where we operate.
Combined with our focus on empowering people through connectivity,
we seek to deliver greater digital inclusion by actively exploring new ways
to increase smartphone penetration and tailoring connectivity services.
These initiatives include device subsidies of more than R250 million, our
Good as New certified refurbished devices and ground-breaking prepaid
device financing bundles. Once a consumer is empowered with a
data-enabled device, we support data affordability through personalised
offers. Initiatives focus on specific geographies and market segments
through Just4You, Just4YouTown, and NXT LVL. Our ConnectU portal
provides zero-rated access to basic internet and essential services for
14.4 million users.
Ambition 1: Africa’s leading communications company Ambition 2: Diversify and differentiate with our digital ecosystem
In Egypt, our partnership with the government to digitalise the country’s
healthcare system through UHI and the Egyptian University Hospitals
programmes reaches 309 hospitals and serves 6.3 million people.
Agricultural productivity is vital for Africa’s economic future, and
enhancing productivity and competitiveness is key to unlocking this
potential. Through our subsidiaries, Mezzanine, M-Pesa and IoT.nxt, we
provide various agriculture digitisation tools and platforms that enable
the efficient distribution and use of inputs, provide access to insurance
and funding, unlock markets, and facilitate payments and subsidies.
Mezzanine’s eVuna and e-Vouchering solutions reach 6.4 million
beneficiaries. In Tanzania, the M-Kulima agricultural platform, integrated
with M-Pesa, has 3.2 million registered farmers.
Beyond our efforts to close the digital divide and drive financial
inclusion, we aim to positively impact communities in the areas where
we operate, focusing on youth, the underserved, marginalised people
and victims of natural disasters. We leverage the power of connectivity,
our foundations and partnerships with global aid agencies to expand
access to high-quality education, support jobseekers, and assist people
with disabilities and those experiencing abuse.
The Group’s digital education solutions and partnerships facilitate
access to educational resources for 2.6 million learners. Each initiative
focuses on in-country needs. These include the e-learning platform in
South Africa, Ta3limy in Egypt, e-Fahamu in Tanzania, VodaEduc in DRC,
Vodacom Faz Crescer in Mozambique and, in partnership with the UN
Refugee Agency, Instant Network Schools (INS) in multiple countries.
These initiatives illustrate the power of connectivity and technology to
enhance education.
In FY2024, we scaled our Code Like a Girl programme, bringing the total
number of young women in Africa empowered through technological
inclusion to 15 742. We promote the digital inclusion of people with
disabilities through tailored commercial propositions and support
infrastructure such as the National Relay Service in South Africa, a call
centre for deaf customers in Egypt, and dedicated help desks for blind
customers and sign language interpreters in Tanzania. In DRC, through
Je Suis Cap, we established 1 450 women with disabilities as M-Pesa
agents, and our Insight Centre in Lesotho provides visually impaired
people with equal access to information.
1. Includes Safaricom Plc at 100%.
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 7
9. CEO reflections on ESG continued
In protecting the planet, we focus on emission and waste
reduction while supporting our customers and protecting
biodiversity. In this pursuit, we aim to reimagine problems to
create opportunities.
In FY2024, we invested significant effort Group-wide to develop
our first detailed net zero and climate transition plan. We
submitted our net zero commitments to the Science Based
Targets Initiative (SBTi) for validation. Our near-term science-
based targets are to reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions by
100% by FY2035 (against a FY2020 baseline) and to engage
with our suppliers to reduce our scope 3 emissions. Within the
next two years, we are committed to setting a long-term
science-based net zero target to reduce our scope 1, 2 and 3
emissions across our entire value chain.
Our landmark virtual wheeling agreement with Eskom in South
Africa is a testament to our commitment to working with others
and driving innovative solutions. In addition to offsetting up to
30% of our electricity consumption with renewable power, the
solution provides a blueprint for other South African corporates
and new private sector investment opportunities in renewable
energy generation. In Egypt, our agreement with the New and
Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) supplies us with electricity
from renewable projects powering 65% of our operations in Egypt.
Across the Group, we invest in climate-smart networks and
solutions to reduce GHG emissions through increased efficiency.
In FY2024, we achieved ISO 50001 certification across all our
OpCos. We completed our largest on-site solar project at our
Midrand campus in South Africa. This project has an installed
capacity of 6MWp, producing up to 10.8GWh per annum and
saving approximately 10 908tCO2
e annually. We seek additional
power purchase agreements (PPAs), and we are exploring
innovative hydrogen cell solutions to increase the amount
of energy from renewable sources in other locations. These
combined efforts and the purchase of renewable energy
certificates resulted in a 28% reduction in GHG emissions
in FY2024.
Our success depends on our employees’ skills, attitudes and ethical
behaviour. Our Spirit of Vodacom initiatives aim to keep employees
engaged, boost morale and create an effective, progressive and
conducive organisational culture. We are particularly proud that
Vodacom’s human capital initiatives were acknowledged with
certification as Africa’s Top Employer by the Top Employer Institute.
This reflects our hard work to cement the Spirit of Vodacom across
our footprint. We recognise that our employees, like our customers,
face elevated cost of living pressures. In some cases, this
necessitated out-of-cycle salary reviews and hardship allowances
during FY2024, in certain cases.
With a focus on developing digital skills, we invest in employee
development and training to ensure we achieve our strategic goals
while helping employees grow. In FY2024, we invested R485 million
in skills development and training. We implemented our Grow My
Impact performance management system to align individual
performance with Group strategic goals. As our talent management
framework evolves, the system refines our measurement and
differentiation of individual potential.
We updated our ethics strategy to reflect our digital ambitions and
shifting environment. Our board-approved digital ethics strategy is
shaping our actions and includes the development of our artificial
intelligence (AI) governance. Overseen by a dedicated steering
committee, this demonstrates our commitment to using AI ethically
and responsibly to benefit customers, employees and society. Our
privacy and security programmes create a strong culture and practice of
protecting the privacy, security and confidentiality of customers’ data.
The Group remains committed to establishing FibreCos and
TowerCos across the countries where we operate as we optimise our
assets. In FY2024, we finalised the separation of our South African
tower portfolio into a standalone TowerCo business called Mast
Services. Our planned strategic investment with CIVH to acquire up
to 40% joint control of assets in Maziv remains under review by the
competition authorities. We believe the transaction has the potential
to scale our fibre offerings in South Africa, foster economic
development and help bridge South Africa’s digital divide in some of
the most vulnerable parts of society.
Appreciation and outlook
My heartfelt gratitude goes to Vodacom’s leadership and employees for their
tireless commitment to the Group and our purpose as it drives us to connect for a
better future. I would also like to thank our business partners, shareholders and
other stakeholders for their unwavering support in pursuit of our purpose and the
execution of our responsible business practices. I am grateful to the Board and in
particular, to the Social and Ethics Committee, for their continued support and
guidance.
In the year ahead, we will focus on solidifying our focal purpose programmes,
accelerating mobile and fixed connectivity, scaling handset financing and rolling
out our innovative digital and financial services, while supporting the
communities in which we operate. Our planet focus will remain to continuously
reduce our negative operational impacts while seeking ways to support our
customers and support biodiversity. We will continue to deliver against our
commitment to maintain and enhance trust with our stakeholders.
Shameel Joosub
CEO
7 June 2024
Ambition 3: Optimised, future-ready TechCo
Read more about our ESG framework on Page 13
Read more about our contributions to the SDGs on Page 14
Read more about our impact on Page 16
Read more about our footprint, mobile reach, products and services on Page 19
Read our Chairman’s statement on Page 9
IR Read more about our strategic ambitions and pillars in the integrated report
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 8
10. Reflectionsfrom
theSocialand
EthicsCommittee
“The committee continued its journey with
management, delving into various aspects of ESG
performance, as it translates to achieving the
Group’s purpose to connect for a better future.”
The Group’s purpose refresh affirms
Vodacom’s commitment to supporting an
inclusive, sustainable and trusted digital
society where individuals and businesses can
thrive. Through connectivity and technology,
the Group seeks to empower people, help
protect the planet, and enhance stakeholders’
trust.
Khumo Shuenyane
The Social and Ethics Committee (the committee) engages with management through deep dives and regular updates
to ensure meaningful oversight of the Group’s ESG efforts, as these are enabled through the steadfast execution of the
Group’s strategy and responsible business practices in pursuit of Vodacom’s purpose to connect for a better future.
Read more about our purpose refresh in the CEO reflections
on ESG on Page 6
2024 focus areas
Customer experience,
particularly concerning the
Group’s strategic ambition to
be Africa’s leading TelCo
Regulatory matters in each
country and the sustainability
of the Group’s operations
Businessintegrity,withafocusontheGroup’s
ethics culture and its ongoing initiatives to
combat bribery and corruption, particularly
mitigating money laundering risk
Reputation management, focusing on the
influence of key reputation drivers
Health, safety and well-being,
especially risks to employees,
suppliers, contractors and the public
B-BBEE performance in South Africa in
compliance with the Codes of Good
Practice and localisation requirements
in other countries of operation
ESG performance as measured
against internal targets and
the Group’s ESG leadership
ambitions
Energy management, its link to the
Group’s business resilience and the
implications for the Group’s planet
ambitions
The Group’s climate transition
planning, including formalisation of
net zero targets
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 9
11. Reflections from the Social and Ethics Committee continued
Environment and climate change
The committee deepened its understanding of
environmental considerations and impacts across
the Group’s value chain. It reflected on emerging
regulations in respect of which the Board will receive
training in FY2025.
The committee engaged extensively with
management on the progress of the Group’s detailed
plans and activities underpinning the Group’s
near-term scope 1 and 2 net zero target and value
chain net zero commitment. It endorsed the
submission of the targets to achieve net zero for
operations by 2035 along with a near-term supplier
engagement target to the SBTi for validation.
Effective execution of the Group’s energy management
strategy is vital to decreasing operational GHG
emissions. The committee congratulated management
on achieving ISO 50001 energy management system
certification across all OpCos, noting the Group as the
first TelCo to achieve this in Africa. The committee
acknowledged management’s progress towards a
sustainable low-carbon transition by increasing the
share of electricity from renewable energy sources
through the Vodacom Midrand campus solar
installation and the ongoing rollout of solar-powered
network sites and base stations. The Group also seeks
to purchase renewable energy from national electricity
providers. In Egypt, 65% of the electricity purchased
from the Egyptian government is from renewable
energy sources.
The Group continues to pilot innovative technologies
such as hydrogen fuel cells, explores the
implementation of microgrids and will go live with
virtual wheeling in the coming year. Virtual wheeling,
a solution codeveloped with national energy
provider, Eskom, will allow the Group to offset up to
30% of the electricity purchased in South Africa with
energy from renewable sources. In the near term, the
Group continues to purchase renewable energy
certificates to meet our goal to match 100% of the
grid electricity we use with electricity added to the
grid from renewable sources by 2025 and in support
of the near-term net zero target for the Group’s
operations by 2035.
Vodacom’s ESG approach
ESG is increasingly becoming a regulatory and compliance imperative.
Vodacom has for many years integrated ESG principles into the Group’s
strategy to connect for a better future and seeks to steadily strengthen the
integration. The committee remained appraised of management’s strides in
ESG performance against internal targets and external benchmarks,
recognising areas of improved performance and noting those requiring
continued focus. Key areas explored in the year included considering
material ESG risks, reflecting on increasing ESG-related disclosure
requirements and the systematic programmes that must be implemented
to deliver against the requirements, deliberating on the Group’s net zero
pathway within the African context, and refining the Group’s purpose to
strengthen its ESG response.
Customer satisfaction
Customer service remained a key focus for the Group. The committee monitored
performance against key service metrics and engaged with management on
initiatives across the business value chains through which the Group aims to
eliminate customer pain points. Through this deep dive, the committee examined
key aspects of customer strategy including:
y Empowering the frontline;
y Continuous improvement through process simplification and design thinking;
y Automation, the use of customer service bots and digitisation; and
y customer loyalty programmes.
The committee noted the launch of the OneApp platform in South Africa and Egypt
and the expansion of the TOBi chatbot to a further two OpCos, now reaching five in
total. The network remains the key differentiator for the Group. The committee
commended management on the continued investment in network coverage,
quality and reliability, which resulted in leadership in network NPS in four OpCos.
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 10
12. Health, safety and well-being
With the health, safety and well-being of our employees,
suppliers and society being integral to the Group’s operations,
the committee observed the progress of embedding a culture of
“no one gets hurt”. This principle ensures that employees and
suppliers are empowered to stop activities to avoid potential
injuries and the ongoing enhancement of analysing reported
incidents, which aims to provide early warning and actions to
avoid potential future life-threatening incidents. The committee
noted, with deep regret, two fatalities. A supplier’s employee was
attacked by bees while working on a cell tower in Mozambique
and a member of the public was involved in a road incident in
South Africa. Management demonstrated the learnings from each
incident, with remediation activities to sustain controls and
enhance ways of working to prevent reoccurrences. Extreme
weather events, most notably flooding, continued in several
countries where the Group operates. The committee reflected on
the associated risks related to employee well-being, human rights
and business continuity, and reviewed reports on general
employee well-being.
Reflections from the Social and Ethics Committee continued
Code of conduct
Delivering on Vodacom’s strategy and purpose requires a strong
ethical culture, and ethical principles are integral to business
practices. The committee oversees the ethical culture of the Group,
its contractors and partners, through the ethics management
programme, and the Doing What’s Right programme, which are
supported by training and awareness activities and analysis of the
queries and incidents submitted to the Group’s Speak Up
whistleblowing and ethics advice lines. The Audit, Risk and
Compliance Committee, whose membership overlaps with the Social
and Ethics Committee, oversees internal and external fraud incidents.
The Social and Ethics Committee deliberated on the evolution of the
Group’s approach aimed at integrating ethical considerations from an
increasingly digital society into the Group’s digital ethics strategy,
which seeks to ensure that integrity remains at the forefront of
Vodacom’s digital transformation journey. The committee noted,
among other initiatives, the development of an AI governance
framework, which was launched alongside the digital ethics strategy
at the Chairman’s Annual Ethical Leadership event, which featured
Dr Urvashni Aneja, Founding Director of Digital Futures Lab, an
interdisciplinary research collective that examines the complex
interaction between technology and society in the Global South.
Employees, culture and transformation
Employees are the driving force behind the Group’s success. Focus is
placed on culture, leadership, engagement, diversity and inclusion
and skills development. The committee monitored progress reports
spanning the employee value chain, noting ongoing improvements in
gender diversity, employee engagement scores and human capital
development programmes. Management’s initiatives to drive inclusion
and diversity included establishing the Africa-wide Women’s Forum
Network and the Africa Inclusion Forum, while entrenching local
activities such as the Egyptian Returnship programme, which supports
women who return to work after a career break. The committee
gained detailed insights into the various skills development
programmes aimed at supporting succession planning, female
leadership development, and advancing critical skills in fields deemed
scarce. It also considered the programmes supporting employees
across all business areas to develop next digital skills such as the
Citizen Developer Programme and #1MoreSkill. The Spirit Beat survey
revealed a steady improvement in employee sentiment.
Management received awards and recognition for employment
practices, including being ranked number one Top Employer in Africa,
Vodafone Egypt being awarded the Great Place to Work Award, and
Vodacom South Africa maintaining the silver status in the South
African Workplace Equality Index Awards for supporting LGBTQIA+
employees.
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 11
13. Reflections from the Social and Ethics Committee continued
Vodacom Foundations
The committee reflected on management’s progress in scaling education
and economic development programmes, noting several partnerships
that continue to deliver impact at scale. With the support of the
Vodafone Foundation, USAID and local governments, our m-mama
maternal health programme continued to expand within Tanzania and
Lesotho, and will be extended to Kenya. With the UN Refugee Agency
and Vodafone Foundation, the Instant Network Schools continued to
provide critical education intervention in four countries in which we
operate. Further discussions dealt with management’s ambitions to
expand digital skills training, through programmes such as Code Like a
Girl, across all OpCos, and to further drive economic empowerment
through Je Suis Cap in DRC. Vodacom and the foundations continued to
provide emergency response following severe flooding in South Africa,
DRC and Mozambique.
Financial services
Managing legal and regulatory compliance, financial crime, reputation
and customer-related conduct risk remain top of mind. The committee
commended management’s ongoing proactive engagements with
regulators and central banks to inform and guide oversight in respect
of non-traditional financial service offerings, specifically mobile money.
The committee supported management’s proactive stance concerning
compliance with know your customer and anti-money laundering
regulations and the Group’s role in shaping an industry-wide approach
to customer registrations. The committee monitored the ongoing
improvement in compliance and reporting and considered the
implications of the increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task
Force of several countries where we operate.
Regulatory matters, reputation management
and stakeholder engagement
Stakeholder management, including proactively identifying and
managing existing and potential reputation and regulatory matters,
plays a vital role in maintaining a conducive operating environment.
The committee noted that management continued to invest
significant time with a range of key stakeholders to support an
effective market structure, to reduce risks and ensure sustainable
operations in a complex, sometimes volatile, operating environment.
The committee engaged on detailed reports covering:
y Outcomes of reputation assessments and their key drivers;
y Spectrum sales which are critical to the Group’s ability to expand
coverage, with a focus on 4G and 5G;
y Compliance with licensing and regulatory obligations and
implementing necessary controls to mitigate compliance risk;
y Social obligations associated with spectrum such as connectivity
to public service institutions;
y Election outcomes;
y Regulatory developments in areas including mobile money,
financial regulation and taxation;
y The acquisition of an up to 40% investment in fibre provider
Maziv, which remains under the South African Competition
Tribunal review; and
y Various legal matters in collaboration with the Audit, Risk and
Compliance Committee.
y Stakeholder engagement reports encompassing government,
regulatory, industry and civil society engagements.
BBBEE
We monitored the Group’s BBBEE performance and are pleased
that Vodacom Group has maintained its level 1 status for five
consecutive years and Vodacom South Africa and Subsidiaries for
six consecutive years.
Committee evaluation
Internal audit conducted an independent review of the
committee’s compliance with its charter, making minor
observations and recommendations for improvement. There were
several amendments to the structure and functioning of the
committee, including an increased focus on key performance
areas linked to the Group’s strategy for focused monitoring and
richer engagement on identified focus areas. These changes were
agreed with management and are balanced with the committee’s
obligations regarding the Companies Act and King IV. The Board’s
biennial evaluation process also confirmed that the members
were satisfied with the functioning of the committee.
Looking ahead
The committee’s plans include:
y Executing the FY2025 year plan with a focus on the
agreed key performance areas while balancing the
mandate as prescribed by the Companies Act and
King IV recommendations;
y Monitoring the progress of the Group net zero and
climate transition plan execution;
y Considering the Group’s refreshed purpose execution
programme and associated performance measures;
y Engaging further on ESG risks and opportunities within
selected focus areas, including human rights, financial
services and fair treatment of customers, business
integrity and employee-related matters; and
y Ongoing upskilling in emerging ESG and sustainability
regulatory frameworks and directors’ associated
responsibilities through training and topic deep dives.
Khumo Shuenyane
Chairman: Social and Ethics Committee
07 June 2024
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 12
14. We enable an inclusive, sustainable and trusted digital society where individuals and businesses can thrive
Our ESG
framework
Vodacom exists to connect for a better future.
We recognise that to deliver on this purpose,
ESG must be integrated into what we do.
Maintaining trust
Closing the digital divide
Extending our network and making connectivity more
accessible to all.
Empowering our customers
Providing products and services to help address societal
challenges, increase productivity and enable SMEs to thrive.
Supporting communities
Supporting the digitalisation of education and leveraging
technology to address gender-based violence (GBV) and assist
people living with disabilities.
Responding to climate change
Committed to a low-carbon future and playing
our part in addressing the climate crisis.
Delivering net zero operations
(scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions)
Increasing our efficiencies to reduce energy
consumption and sourcing alternative energy
to reduce our GHG emissions.
Managing scope 3 GHG emissions
Engaging our supply chain to reduce indirect
GHG emissions.
Driving circularity
Following a circular approach to reuse, resell
and recycle resources to reduce waste in our
produce and service ecosystem.
Supporting biodiversity
Understanding and managing our biodiversity
impact while collaborating with partners to
minimise loss through technology solutions.
Developing our employees
Developing a diverse and inclusive workforce
that reflects the customers and societies we serve.
Fostering workplace equality
Removing barriers to workplace equality and
accelerating transformation.
Developing employee skills
Developing diverse, future-capable talent and skills
to support our transformation into a new-generation
connectivity and digital services provider.
Living the Spirit of Vodacom
Creating a workplace culture where people feel
empowered to thrive and positively impact their
careers.
Protecting privacy and data
Maintaining customer’s trust in our
ability to protect their data.
Managing data privacy
Respecting the privacy rights and
preferences of our customers and
help improve society through the
responsible use of data.
Managing cyber security
Prioritising cyber and information
security across everything we do.
Protecting people
Protecting the fundamental rights
of our customers, employees and
communities where we operate.
Managing health and safety
Creating a safe working
environment for everyone working
for and on behalf of Vodacom and
the communities we operate in.
Respecting human rights
Respecting, protecting and
remedying human rights, while
supporting socioeconomic
development.
Promoting responsible and inclusive procurement
Managing relationships with our direct suppliers and
evaluating their commitments to consider social,
environmental and ethical impacts when sourcing good and
services.
Managing our supply chain
Ensuring safe and fair working conditions, and responsibly
manage environmental and social issues across our supply
chains.
Supporting local economic development
Supporting local enterprises for economic empowerment and
the creation and endurance of employment and
socioeconomic development opportunities.
Empowering
people
We aim to close the
digital divide and help
people benefit from
digitalisation.
Protecting the
planet
We want to help protect
the planet and enable
our customers to do
the same.
Connecting for a better future
Doing business ethically
Ensuring that our business operates
ethically, lawfully and with integrity
wherever we operate.
Promoting ethical conduct
We hold our employees, business
partners, and supplier to a high
standard of integrity.
Complying with policy
Complying with the relevant laws,
evolving regulations and policies
across our operations including our
zero-tolerance policy on bribery and
corruption.
ESG is not a distinct strategy or set of activities separate
from our daily management of the business; it is
embedded into Vodacom’s purpose-led strategy, business
model and activities through priority ESG initiatives.
Our purpose-led strategy serves as our ESG framework,
driving the Group to manage ESG risks and deliver
positive impact through ESG-related opportunities,
considering our operating context, stakeholder
expectations and developing ESG regulations and
standards.
This strategy – which at its core remains connecting
for a better future by enabling a trusted digital society
that is inclusive and sustainable – has evolved to focus
on empowering people and protecting the planet. This
is underpinned by our commitment to maintaining
trust in everything we do.
We have defined ESG goals linked to local and global
ambitions, such as local government development
plans and UN SDGs. Through our progress on these
goals, we demonstrate tangible value to stakeholders
and fulfil evolving ESG regulations and standards in
the business environment. This deep integration
ensures our relevance and impact, cultivates trust with
stakeholders and helps us deliver on our purpose.
Transparency and measurement
Transparency is essential to our ESG approach and we
seek to provide comprehensive disclosure and
measure our ESG progress using multiple mechanisms
such as ESG ratings, reputation tracking and
stakeholder feedback.
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 13
15. Contributing to the UN SDGs
SDGs and underlying targets
Examples of our initiatives aimed
at the SDG targets
No poverty (1.4)
End poverty in all its forms
everywhere
y Financial inclusion such
as M-Pesa, VodaCash,
microfinance and
insurance
Page 26
y Affordable devices,
internet access
Page 23
Zero hunger (2.3, 2.4)
End hunger, achieve food
security and improved
nutrition, and promote
sustainable agriculture
y Providing agricultural
platforms such as eVuna
and M-Kulima
Page 33
y Skills capacity building
through provision of
agricultural ICT training
Page 33
Good health and
well-being
(3.1, 3.2, 3.7, 3.8)
Ensure healthy lives and
promote well-being for
all at all ages
y Universal Health
Insurance (UHI) and the
digitalisation of Egyptian
University Hospitals
Page 32
y HealthX Page 32
y Mum Baby and
m-mama
Page 32
y Health and safety:
driver safety training
Page 69
Quality education
(4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6)
Ensure inclusive and
equitable quality education
and promote life-long
learning opportunities
for all
y Connected schools,
instant schools and
instant network
schools
Page 34
y South African education
ecosystem
Page 36
y Learnerships and
bursary programmes
Page 36
– 37
The UN SDGs represent a more
sustainable future for all, with African
countries committed to implementing
the SDG-aligned African Union Agenda
2063 and governments in the countries
in which we operate have developed
SDG-aligned national development plans.
Through our purpose-led strategy, we are
committed to accelerating connectivity
and digitalisation to enable impactful and
lasting solutions to social, economic and
environmental challenges. This helps the
Group deliver sustainable growth.
Digital technology will play a crucial role
in achieving the SDGs, from eradicating
extreme poverty to improving maternal
and infant health, promoting sustainable
agriculture and decent work, ensuring
financial inclusion and universal literacy,
to supporting a just transition. However,
we are mindful that digital technology
can also pose risks, such as inequitable
access, privacy threats and the
proliferation of e-waste.
By working with like-minded enterprises,
governments, civil society and individuals,
we seek to build solutions that deliver
economic, social and environmental
benefits at scale to support the
achievement of the SDGs while managing
the risks that could impede progress.
Read more about our contribution to the SDGs
SDGs and underlying targets
Examples of our initiatives aimed
at the SDG targets
Gender equality
(5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5b)
Achieve gender equality
and empower all women
and girls
y Women empowerment
programmes and GBV
ecosystem
Pages 32
and 38
y Mobile to more women Page 25
Affordable and clean
energy (7.2, 7.3)
Ensure access to affordable,
reliable, sustainable and
modern energy for all
y On-site solar, self-powered
masts and PPAs
Page 44
y Energy efficiencies Page 43
y Virtual wheeling initiative Page 45
y Customer solutions such as
MySol, Gas Fasta and clean
cooking
Page 41
and 50
Decent work and
economic growth
(8.2, 8.3, 8.5, 8.6, 8.10)
Promote inclusive and
sustainable economic
growth, full and productive
employment and decent
work for all
y SME services and solutions,
including access to supply chains
and e-Commerce platforms
Page 77
y Supporting agriculture as a
labour-intensive industry
Page 34
y Employment equity, fair pay and
supply chain labour practices
Pages 57
and 77
y Transformation through B-BBEE
in South Africa and localisation
in other countries
Pages 18
and 77
Industry, innovation
and infrastructure
(9.1, 9.3, 9.4)
Build resilient infrastructure,
promote inclusive and
sustainable industrialisation
and foster innovation
y Inclusion through rural
connectivity, access to smart
phones and 4G connectivity, data
costs and the expansion of 5G
Page 22
y Preferential/localised
procurement
Page 75
We enable inclusive, sustainable and trusted digital societies.
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 14
16. Contributing to the UN SDGs continued
SDGs and underlying targets Examples of our initiatives aimed at the SDG targets
Reduced inequalities (10.2)
Reduce inequality within and
among countries
y Employment equity and fair pay Page 57
y Diversity, ethnicity and inclusion efforts Page 57
y Financial inclusion Page 26
y Helping people with disabilities Page 37
Sustainable cities and
communities (11.3, 11.7)
Make cities and human
settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable
y Digital home solutions Page 31
y Fleet management solutions Page 31
Responsible consumption
and production (12.5)
Ensure sustainable
consumption and production
patterns
y Circularity of network waste including
hazardous and non-hazardous network
equipment
Page 47
y Circularity of devices, including WWF
“1 million phones for the planet” campaign,
Good as New and e-TADWEER programmes
Page 47
y Reducing virgin plastic use in our SIMs Page 48
y Green building accreditation Page 43
y Building management systems to monitor
and support responsible water use
Page 48
Climate action (13.1, 13.3)
Take urgent action to combat
climate change and its impacts
y Climate and TCFD programme Page 40
y Driving energy efficiencies in our network
and technology centres
Page 43
y Switching to renewables through on-site and
offsite renewables, and the use of market-
based instruments
Page 44
and 45
y Managing our diesel consumption by
prioritising batteries and exploring electric
vehicles
Page 45
Life below water (14.2)
Conserve and sustainably use
the oceans, seas and marine
resources for sustainable
development
y South Africa solution to safeguard marine
mammals against fishing net entanglements
Page 49
SDGs and underlying targets Examples of our initiatives aimed at the SDG targets
Life on land (15.2, 15.7, 15.c)
Protect, restore and promote
sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, sustainably manage
forests, combat desertification,
and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity
loss
y Tanzania reforestation programme Page 50
y Lesotho urban greening and forest
restoration programme
Page 50
y DRC Dunia app on endangered wildlife
awareness
Page 50
y DRC clean cooking solution to minimise
deforestation
Page 50
y South Africa owl and bird rescue programme
on network access sites
Page 50
Peace, justice and strong
institutions (16.4, 16.5, 16.6)
Promote peaceful and inclusive
societies for sustainable
development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive
institutions at all levels
y Strong corporate governance
y Anti-money laundering and anti-bribery and
corruption programme
Page 55
Partnerships for the goals
(17.7, 17.8, 17.17)
Strengthen the means of
implementation and revitalise
the global partnership for
sustainable development
y Partnerships with Vodafone Foundation such
as INS and m-mama
Page 32
and 34
y Expansion to underserved markets with the
support of global funding partners
Page 22
y Partnerships with government, civil society
and like-minded companies e.g. education
Page 34
y Device circularity with WWF “1 million
phones for the planet” campaign
Page 47
y WWF South Africa solution to safeguard
marine mammals against fishing net
entanglements
Page 49
y Virtual wheeling collaboration in South Africa
with Eskom
Page 45
y Partnered with Africa Moto to distribute clean
cooking solutions that help minimise
deforestation
Page 50
y Partnered with Owl Rescue Centre
NPC to rescue and relocate bird wildlife
in base stations to rehabilitation centres
Page 50
GOV Governance
report
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 15
17. Some of the activities and outcomes (with additional information in each chapter)
Page 21
Empowering people
1 Closing the
digital divide 2 Empowering
our customers 3 Supporting
communities
Pillar and focus areas
Measuringourimpact
y Our mobile networks cover 564 million people
serving 203.1 million customers (including
Safaricom Plc at 100%), up by 17.3 million
y Upgraded 2 756 2G and 3G sites to 4G, improving
access for almost 14 million people
y Provided various handsets and financial
propositions to support smartphone penetration
y 66.2 million financial inclusion customers
(FY2023: 58.9 million)
y 14.4 million ConnectU unique visitors and
12.3 million sessions initiated monthly
(FY2023: 6.0 million visitors, 13.0 million sessions)
y 6 500 girls trained through Code Like a Girl,
resulting in a total of 15 742 trained since 2017
y 3 million registered users on Mum Baby
(FY2022: 2.7 million)
y With our registered financial services partners,
advanced R742 million in funding to
3 809 SMEs via VodaLend in South Africa
(FY2023: R272 million, 1 287 SMEs)
y 1 million merchants accept M-Pesa and
616 791 agents serve M-Pesa customers
(FY2023: 803 000 merchants, 552 612 M-Pesa
agents)
y Our V-Hub platform provides SMEs with
free online resources. Cumulatively,
289 563 unique V-Hub users accessed the
platform in South Africa and Egypt
(FY2023: 29 802 thousand)
y 9.6 million small-scale farmers primarily in
South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, using our
agricultural solutions (FY2023: 8.2 million)
y 8.4 million connected lives through various
healthcare platforms in South Africa, Tanzania,
Kenya and Zambia (FY2023: 10.6 million)
y 6.3 million people served through UHI and
hospital digitalisation in Egypt across 309
hospitals
y Provided over 2.6 million learners across South
Africa, Tanzania, DRC, Egypt and Mozambique
free access to digital education platforms
(FY2023: 2.6 million)
y 1 450 women with disabilities trained as
M-Pesa agents since FY2023 in DRC
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 16
18. Some of the activities and outcomes (with additional information in each chapter)
y Enhanced the Group’s Climate and TCFD
report to include our emissions reductions
strategy including additional information
on our climate transition plan and
associated activities
y Energy consumption increased by 3%
from 1 862.2GWh to 1 922.6GWh
(FY2023: up 4%)1
y Scope 1 and 2 (market based) GHG
emissions decreased by 28% from
855 173.2tCO2
e to 618 747.8tCO2
e
(FY2023: down 10%)1
y GHG emissions per terabyte of data
reduced to 0.14tCO2
e per terabyte of data
down 48%1
y Midrand solar project is complete, with an
installed capacity of 6MWp, producing up
to 10.8GWh per annum and saving
approximately 10 908tCO2
e annually
y 1 773 solar-operated access sites
(FY2022: 1 525)
y 11 882 consumer handsets reused
(FY2023: 902)1
y 6 029 consumer handsets recycled
(FY2023: 5 355)1
y 1 273.1 tonnes network equipment
recycled (FY2023: 1 167.1 tonnes)1
y 1 277.7 tonnes of hazardous network
waste recycled (FY2023: 1 724.7 tonnes)1
y Water consumption increased by 21%
due to reporting improvements and
increased consumption from new
facilities (FY2024: 270 994.4kl;
FY2023: 224 495.6kl)1
y Percentage of employees completing
Doing What’s Right training – 96% data
privacy; 97% cyber security; 96% code of
conduct; 97% anti-bribery and corruption;
and 97% health and safety (FY2023: 95%;
88%; 94%; 94% and 94%)
y Continued to drive an inclusive employee
culture supported through the Disability,
LGBTQIA+, Youth Council, Women’s
Network and newly launched Men’s forums
to foster tolerance and embrace diversity
y Leading gender-neutral parental leave
policy for employees alongside our
maternity leave policy
y 670 402 hours invested by employees
in #1MoreSkill and other online training
programmes (FY2023: 202 033 hours)
y Recognised as the number one top
employer in Africa, having been certified in
all OpCos
y 7.2% voluntary employee turnover
(FY2023: 10.5%)
y Zero privacy fines (FY2023: zero)
y Zero cyber security critical incidents
(FY2023: zero)
y 0.06 lost-time injury (LTI) frequency rate
y Paid R8.1 billion in corporate taxes
as per the cashflow statement (FY2023:
R7.4 billion)
y Worked with 24 932 suppliers and spent
R90.0 billion (FY2023: 25 661; R90.6 billion)
y R7 billion spent with 1 037 qualifying South
African SME suppliers (FY2023: R8.4 billion,
1 753 SMEs)
Measuringourimpact continued
Pillar and focus areas
Protecting the planet Page 39
4Driving
circularity 5Supporting
biodiversity
2Delivering net zero operations
(scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions)
3Managing scope 3
GHG emissions
1Responding to
climate change
4Protecting
people 5Promoting responsible
and inclusive procurement
2Developing
our people
3Protecting
privacy and data
1Doing business
ethically
Page 51
Maintaining trust
1.
Our FY2020 baselines and prior years’ data
were restated to include Vodafone Egypt.
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 17
19. In a clear demonstration of Vodacom’s unwavering commitment to the ideals of B-BBEE, Vodacom Group
and Vodacom South Africa achieved the highest B-BBEE contributor status of Level 1 for the fifth and
sixth consecutive years respectively.
In terms of B-BBEE categorisation, Vodacom Group Board’s black representation remained at 50%, of which
25% were black women. Vodacom South Africa’s Board has 78% black representation (FY2023: 80%), of
which 56% are black women (FY2023: 50%). Vodacom Group’s women representation on the Executive
Committee is 22% (FY2023: 13%), while Vodacom South Africa Executive Committee is 56% women
(FY2023: 50%). In terms of employment equity legislation, Vodacom Group’s black representation is 77%
(FY2023: 76%) and Vodacom South Africa is 80% (FY2023: 79%). Black employees with disabilities
improved to 1.9% for Vodacom Group (up from 1.8%) and Vodacom South Africa maintained 2.2%.
Scoring element
Target
points
Achieved
point 2024
Achieved
point 2023
Achieved
point 2022
Ownership 25 23.92 24.20 25.00
Management control 23 17.11 16.88 16.00
Board representation 8 8.00 8.00 6.83
Top management representation 5 1.97 2.17 2.73
Employment equity 10 7.14 6.71 6.44
Skills development 20 20.63 21.56 23.04
Enterprise and supplier development 50 48.84 48.12 48.55
Procurement 25 22.42 22.80 23.07
Supplier development 10 9.42 8.32 8.48
Enterprise development 15 17.00 17.00 17.00
Socioeconomic development 12 12.00 12.00 12.00
Total 130 122.50 122.76 124.59
B-BBEE results for Vodacom South Africa
Measuring our impact continued
Benchmarking our performance
We track our ESG progress through mechanisms including direct stakeholder feedback, surveys,
benchmarking to best practice, and monitoring the outcomes of selected local and global ESG ratings.
ESG Risk rating
13.2 low risk
Achieved Maintained Constituents of
Constituents of the
ESG score 69
Score A- B- Prime status Score 64
Corporate Sustainability
Assessment
Data as at 7 June 2024
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 18
20. Consumer
Personalised pricing
Zero-rated service
platforms
Handset financing
Fixed wireless access
Business
Unified communications
Fixed wireless access
Access point name
Carrier and wholesale
Mobile
Business
Merchant point of sale
Business-to-business
payments and cashless
distribution
Global payment
partnerships
Bank to wallet transfers
Payment collections
Disbursements
(unrestricted or through
vouchers)
Digital marketplaces
Business term advance
Business cash advance
Insurance
Group risk schemes
Consumer
Peer-to-peer
payments
Cash in and cash out
e-Commerce
Scan to pay
Insurance
Services and bill
payments
Savings and lending
Global payments
International money
transfer
Airtime Advance and
Voucher Advance
Financial services
Our products and services
Consumer
Mobile gaming
Lifestyle
applications
Music and video
Business
V-Hub
V-Digital
Accelerator
Digital marketing
Digital services
Business
Mobile private networks
Smart asset tracking
Workforce management
Agriculture, health and energy:
y software-as-a-service
y platform-as-a-service
y marketplace-as-a-service
IoT
Fixed
Consumer
Fibre to the
home (FTTH)
Business
Fibre to the
business (FTTB)
Cloud, hosting
and managed
security services
Deliveringourpurpose
Vodacom is a leading and purpose-driven African connectivity, digital and fintech
operator. Our mobile networks cover more than 564 million people1
. The Group
serves 203.1 million1
customers across consumer and enterprise segments.
Driven by our commitment to digital and financial inclusion, we place customers at the centre of
everything we do, offering products and services ranging from mobile and fixed connectivity, cloud
and hosting, data security and IoT offerings to digital and financial services.
VodaBucks rewarding loyalty
Partners
Enablers
Big Data
CVM
1. Including Safaricom. OpCos Safaricom
Celebrating
milestones
across our
footprint
203.1 million
Customers
Group
Ethiopia
(Safaricom)
Kenya
(Safaricom)
48.3 million
Customers
44.7
million
Customers
19.6 million
Customers
4.4 million
Customers
51.7 million
Customers
1.5 million
Customers
11.7million
Customers
21.3 million
Customers
Tanzania
DRC
Egypt
Vodacom Group Limited
Lesotho
South Africa
Mozambique
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 19
21. An ecosystem delivering a digital society and inclusion for all while seeking solutions for planet
South Africa Egypt DRC Lesotho Mozambique Tanzania
Money transfer and basic services
Cash in/cash out (including ATM)
Peer to peer
GSM service top-up
Bank transfer
International money transfer
Consumer payments and enterprise services
Consumer to business, e.g. bill payments
Business to consumer, e.g. disbursements
Business to business, e.g. cashless distribution
Financial services
Microloans and overdraft
Insurance
Investments and savings
Super-app mini apps
Merchant payments
In-store merchant payments
E-Commerce/online payments
Tech for Good
Education solutions and programme
Healthcare solutions
Agriculture solutions
Circular economy initiatives
SME V-Hub
IoT Smart solutions
Product set established and scaled
Product set established, scaling up
Product set expanding, scaling up
Product set in development
Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Vodacom Group Limited
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 20
22. Empowering
people
Vodacom seeks to ensure no one is left behind.
We believe in the power of connectivity and
digital services to strengthen economic
resilience.
Mobile technology provides billions of people with their
primary means of communication, access to the internet
and many life-enhancing educational, healthcare and
financial services.
Connectivity is the cornerstone of the digital economy
and a catalyst for transformation across multiple sectors.
Improvements in mobile connectivity correlate to greater
progress towards meeting the SDGs. Since 2015, the mobile
industry has increased its impact on the 17 SDGs1
.
We create digital societies by continuously developing our
fixed and mobile network, relevant platforms and services,
and supporting innovative, impactful projects and
programmes. Our digital products and services align with
our planet pillar and enable customers to use resources
efficiently and reduce waste.
Certain sectors, such as education, agriculture and
healthcare, are critical for societies and economies to
function. We support critical sectors by providing
connectivity and platforms to drive impact at scale.
We acknowledge the significant digital divide in Africa and
believe that for a digital society to flourish, it must be
inclusive. We develop innovative solutions to support an
equal and inclusive society, supported by the Vodacom
Foundations, most notably in education, skills development,
and gender and disability empowerment programmes.
1. GSMA, 2023.
We invest in network infrastructure
to deliver high-quality coverage and
services for individuals and communities.
We expand our network to rural locations
and support access through affordable
connectivity, devices and platforms.
y Pursuing ubiquitous coverage
y Increasing smartphone ownership
y Addressing digital gaps
Our focus areas at a glance
We provide products and services to enhance
productivity and efficiency within SMEs,
large enterprises and the public sector,
considering the broader impact these
solutions can have on individuals,
communities and the planet.
y Delivering platforms for financial inclusion
y Supporting SMEs to thrive in a digital world
y Digitalising larger organisations and critical
sectors
We provide products and services to
address specific societal challenges such
as access to education, gender equality,
financial inclusion and poverty.
y Enabling education
y Helping people with disabilities
y Helping people experiencing abuse
R10 million
to the GBV and Femicide Response
Fund in South Africa
2.6 million
beneficiaries of education platforms
68 528
people with disabilities supported in
South Africa, Egypt, Lesotho and DRC
US$381.2 billion
mobile money transactions
(of which US$345.1 billion is M-Pesa)
(FY2023: US$ 385.2 billion of which
US$364.8 M-Pesa)
9.6 million
registered users of agricultural platforms in
South Africa, Tanzania, DRC and Kenya
(FY2023: 8.2 million)
289 563
cumulative V-Hub unique users
(FY2023: 29 800 excluding Egypt)
2Africa subsea cable connected
to Vodacom networks in
South Africa and Mozambique
further expanding our undersea
cable network
74.4 million
smart phones on our network,
up 9.1% (FY2023: 68.3 million)
6 500
girls trained in Code Like a Girl
programme bringing the total to
15 742 since 2017 (FY2023: 4 370)
Closing the digital divide Empowering our customers Supporting communities
1 2 3
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
21
23. Connecting everyone to digital services,
particularly in Africa, is a significant challenge.
Expanding rural networks can often be more
challenging and offer a lower return on
investment due to lower population densities.
New approaches, partnerships and a blend of
technologies will help us overcome some of
these barriers and deliver universal coverage.
1.1 Pursuing ubiquitous coverage
Network population coverage (%)
2G 3G 4G
South Africa 99.5 98.4 98.7
Egypt 99.3 97.9 98.1
Tanzania 94.6 76.5 66.1
DRC 64.0 44.0 37.2
Mozambique 78.4 86.5 86.6
Lesotho 97.0 98.0 96.0
1. World Bank, 2017.
Through the InternationalTelecommunications
Union’s partner2Connect programme, Vodacom
has an ongoing 5-year pledge to extend 4G
population coverage to 70 million people across
five of our OpCos. Since the commencement of
the pledge in 2022, we have upgraded 2 756 2G
and 3G site to 4G, improving access for almost
14 million people.
We are increasing investment in rural areas
to overcome barriers to connectivity and
digitisation.
The 2Africa subsea cable, the world’s most
extensive system, is connected to Vodacom
networks in South Africa and Mozambique.
The 2Africa project will underpin the further
growth of 4G, 5G and fixed broadband
access and improve network resilience and
connectivity to underserved and rural areas.
1 Closing the
digital divide
Internet access is transformational and
empowers people to contribute to society
and connect meaningfully. Connectivity is
the foundation of inclusion, empowerment
and opportunity. We connect people,
enterprises and communities through our
mobile and fixed networks.
Increased 4G connectivity drives economic
participation. Enhanced connectivity has
macro and microeconomic benefits,
including reducing poverty and increasing
welfare for underserved populations1
.
Expanding mobile broadband penetration
across Africa by 10% could boost gross
domestic product per capita by 2.5%2
.
At the fifth South Africa Investment Conference in 2023 we pledged
to invest R60 billion in South Africa over the next five years, having
delivered on our promise in 2018 to invest R50 billion. We expect this
latest substantial investment to significantly enhance network
resilience to keep customers connected, further accelerating our
deep rural coverage programme to help bridge the digital divide.
We launched commercial 5G services in Mozambique, Lesotho
and Tanzania and plan to extend them more widely in the coming
years. In DRC we are testing 5G connectivity under the regulator’s
supervision in preparation for rolling out the technology.
5G sites
South Africa
2 299
Egypt
–
Tanzania
363
DRC
–
Mozambique
12
Lesotho
8
We made significant progress in expanding and upgrading our network
infrastructure, delivering fast, reliable and secure connectivity in Egypt.
Vodacom Tanzania is now an integral part of the Consortium of TelCo
Operators. As a result, approximately 3 000 km of communication
infrastructure will be entrusted to the Tanzanian government, paving
the way for enhanced connectivity across the nation.
The Project Kuiper service is a 4G/5G network
enabled by a low-orbit satellite constellation.
Beta testing is set to commence in 2024.
Project Kuiper will connect geographically
dispersed cellular antennas to our core
telecoms networks, allowing us to roll out
connectivity quickly and at a lower cost.
In Mozambique we partnered with World
Mobile to trialaerostats – tethered balloons
equipped with telecommunications
equipment. These were identified as a
promising solution to improving internet
access in underserved communities.
Rural sites added
South Africa
219
Egypt
217
Tanzania
34
DRC
47
Mozambique
127
Lesotho
2
2. ITU, 2019.
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
22
24. 1.2 Increasing smartphone ownership
Device ownership is key to unlocking the potential
of advanced connectivity. However, affordability
remains a stumbling block to internet access and
use in Africa. Most people still not using mobile
internet live in areas covered by mobile broadband.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the
largest coverage usage gaps1
. We offer affordable
entry-level smartphones and considered financial
solutions to broaden device ownership.
Smartphone penetration
FY2024 FY2023 % change
South Africa 61.7 64.5 (2.8)
Egypt 74.3 67.9 6.4
Tanzania 37.2 35.3 1.9
DRC 23.0 19.4 3.6
Mozambique 48.5 51.6 (3.1)
Lesotho 72.6 66.3 6.3
We run programmes aimed
at reducing the cost of
smartphones. We reduced
the cost of our 4G devices by
applying subsidies, discounts
and offers tailored to
low-income communities. We
offer financing to customers to
shift from 2G to 4G handsets.
1 Closing the digital divide continued
1. GSMA, 2023.
Enabling access to affordable 4G smart feature phones
4G smartphones and smart feature phones are unique in
their ability to keep customers connected and digitally
included.
We partnered with Samsung Electronics to introduce a
locally produced entry-level 4G smartphone in Egypt
that is fully compatible with our high-speed 4G network.
The device is supported by a tailored financing programme
to increase affordability. In FY2024 we sold 150 000
devices through this partnership.
Low-cost 4G devices
Tanzania
Kitochi
TZS55 000
DRC
ZTE Blade A31
US$50
Mozambique
Tecno T920
MZN1 299
Lesotho
Samsung 04E
(Sechocha) 4G
LSL1 959
Egypt
Samsung A04s
EGP4 499
South Africa
Nokia 215
and 105 4G
R279
A partnership between Vodacom Tanzania, NMB Bank and Google made
affordable 4G smartphones available across Tanzania, benefiting 13 317
customers. Customers also accessed devices through Miliki simu Lipa
Mdogo Mdogo.
Subsidies, discounts and offers tailored for low-income communities in
Egypt offer alternative options for customers wanting to upgrade from 2G
or 3G to 4G handsets. We further support affordability through the Buy
Now Pay Later scheme, offered in partnership with 15 finance providers.
We partnered with Onfon to offer the Pouko Pouko device finance scheme,
which enabled 72 000 customers in Mozambique to own a smartphone.
Through Easy2Own, customers in South Africa can purchase a smartphone
with a once-off deposit and complete the payment through affordable
monthly payments over the following 11 months. Easy2Own has benefited
3 877 customers. An updated Easy2Own offering was relaunched in
April 2024 which now includes daily and weekly repayment options.
Over 2 000 affordable devices were sold in DRC, mostly through M-Pesa
financing.
South Africa Egypt Tanzania DRC Mozambique Lesotho
Smartphones
on network
25.4 million 33.1 million 6.6 million 4.1 million 4.5 million 0.8 million
Devices sold
through prepaid
device finance
900 105 000 11 000 4 000 72 000 300
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
23
25. We offer airtime and data advances
to customers who run out of airtime
to keep them connected.
Through Just4You we provide
customers in South Africa, Tanzania,
DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho
personalised offers for voice, SMS and
data based on what they use the
most in order to save them money.
Just4YourTown in South Africa uses
census data to identify low to average
income towns and communicates
offers specific to these areas.
PowerFlex in South Africa offers
customers unlimited voice minutes,
SMS and customisable data allocation.
Everyday-Ta bundles in South Africa
are affordable contract plans whereby
customers receive a daily data bundle.
We introduced a new range of
mobile data bundles for South African
students on Vodacom’s NXT LVL
proposition.
We launched the Unlimited campaign
in Mozambique and focused on
segmentation by region to minimise
the impact of communications costs.
1 Closing the digital divide continued
1.3 Addressing digital gaps
Access to mobile connectivity is persistently
unequal, with women, people with disabilities, and
those within low-income, rural and underserved
communities less likely to own mobile phones
and access financial and other services.
Reducing the cost of data
We have initiatives to reduce the cost of data,
make our pricing affordable, and increase bundle
validity to support users, including youth and
low-income households.
in DRC
(FY2023: 21%)
in Tanzania
(FY2023: 55%)
in Mozambique
(FY2023: 36%)
in Lesotho
(FY2023: 36%)
Just4You usage
60.5%
56.0%
27.0%
50.0%
49.0%
average discount in
South Africa (FY2023: 60%)
66.0%
Just4YourTown
Vodacom Mozambique partnered
with the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) to offer subscribers
zero-rated access to youth-focused
educational and advice sites,
including Boa Internet, which
provides youth-focused emergency,
life-saving and general health and
citizenship information. Since the
partnership’s launch, Boa Internet
has had 253 186 visitors (FY2023:
473 251) and 791 600 page views
(FY2023: 1.6 million).
Providing free access to online platforms
We provide free access to beneficial online platforms and resources to drive
digital access and inclusion.
1 Methodology revised to report unique visitors only.
770
institutions connected, including the national departments of health,
home affairs and education (FY2023: 770)
25
universities zero rated
1 400
zero-rated URLs
(FY2022: 400)
58
TVET college
websites zero rated
South Africa
14.4 million
unique ConnectU visitors1
(FY2023: 6.0 million)
ConnectU provides access to essential free services and resources in South Africa, DRC and Mozambique.
9.4 million
South African unique visitors1
(FY2023: 5.6 million)
2.7 million
DRC unique visitors
(FY2023: 405 000)
2.3 million
Mozambican unique visitors
(launched in FY2024)
in South Africa
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
24
26. In Mozambique we partner with SMS Biz, UNICEF’s longstanding SMS
information sharing and engagement platform for youth.
We recently launched the Free Wi-Fi
Internet Access initiative in partnership
with the Communications Regulatory
Authority and the Maputo City Council.
The initiative provides free 5G
connectivity to Maputo International
Airport, Praça dos Engraxadores, Zona
Verde Secondary School, the Vodacom
Store in the former Ronil, Praça da
Juventude in Magoanine and the
Fish Market.
Expanding Wi-Fi in public areas promotes
digital inclusion and facilitates access to
information and online resources for
communities, especially young people.
Case study
Free Wi-Fi in Maputo City
1 Closing the digital divide continued
EYANO in DRC provides free on-demand
access to public service information via interactive
voice response, SMS and USSD, connecting people
living in rural areas, especially women. Topics
include financial education, agriculture, health and
well-being, gender equality, water and sanitation,
family planning, weather and human rights. EYANO
logged 2.4 million (FY2023: 2.5 million) callers.
Bringing digital to and empowering
more women
Mobile technology enables access to essential
services. However, the gender gap for internet
usage is substantial, with over 300 million fewer
women than men accessing the internet on a
mobile phone1
. We use mobile technologies to
enhance women’s quality of life through
programmes that enable financial inclusion,
improve health and well-being, education, skills
and entrepreneurship.
1. GSMA, 2020.
3 million
registered Mum Baby users in South Africa,
DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho
(FY2023: 2.7 million)
950
women with disabilities became M-Pesa agents
in DRC (FY2023: 500)
In many African countries, accessing quality health
information and antenatal care is challenging. We
identified lack of information as one of the leading
causes of infant and mother mortality, and we are
working to bridge this gap through mobile
applications such as Mum Baby.
Read more about how Vodacom enhances
the quality of women’s lives on Page 32
Code Like a Girl is a social enterprise that provides girls and women with
the confidence, tools, knowledge and support to enter and flourish in the
coding industry. Code Like a Girl inspires more girls to explore careers that
require coding skills to help them enter science, technology, engineering
and mathematics fields and industries.
Vodacom Mozambique joined Generation Ready to offer internships,
scholarships and training to Code Like a Girl participants. The Shine
programme will provide them with a digital platform for online courses
featuring self-development and community leadership content.
Code Like a Girl is now an accredited programme in South Africa with
credits that can be combined into a full qualification through our
bootcamp series. Four girls who attended the Code Like a Girl programme
are beneficiaries of our South African bursaries programme, and five are
being considered for the next cohort of Mozambiquan bursaries.
Girls trained in FY2024 – 6 500 (Target 6 000)
South Africa
2 282
Egypt
46
Tanzania
640
DRC
1 004
Mozambique
1 013
Lesotho
1 515
Total number of girls trained – 15 742
6 148 143 2 340 1 446 1 700 3 965
SMS Biz has 835 863 subscribers
(FY2023: 775 413)
male female
are aged
15 to 19
9%
are aged
20 to 24
40%
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
25
27. Digital transformation is central to supporting the SDGs. Working with various
partners and subsidiary companies, Vodacom deploys targeted digital
solutions that assist individuals to participate in the formal economy while
helping businesses and governments to work more efficiently, enabling them
to serve more people.
2 Empowering our customers
Vodacom Financial Services – South Africa
The VodaPay super-app has
5.8 millionregistered customers.
VodaPay democratises access to financial
services including telco products, bill payments,
insurance and lending to both Vodacom and
non-Vodacom customers.
VodaLend disbursed
R742 million
in funding to 3 809 SMEs.
Vodacom provides more than
10 000merchants with digital
and physical payment processing services,
through which we process more than
R7 billion in payments annually.
2.1 Delivering platforms for financial inclusion
Mobile money is an important enabler of financial inclusion. In sub-Saharan
Africa 33% of adults hold a mobile money account. In 11 of these economies,
more adults hold only a mobile money account than an account with a bank
or other financial institution. Despite this progress, around 66% of adults in
sub-Saharan Africa remain unbanked1
. Without the ability to transfer money,
people struggle to save, access loans, start a business, pay their bills or
receive payment. We work with various licensed banking and financial services
providers to enable people in remote areas to access payments, loans and
savings on their mobile devices.
1. GSMA, 2023.
2. Mobile money (M-Pesa and Vodafone Cash including Safaricom) and qualifying
financial products from Vodacom Financial Services.
y We offer various insurance
solutions which include life,
funeral and device cover.
2.7 million policies were
issued by Vodacom
Financial Services.
VodaPay payment
solutions
y Kwika is an affordable card
acceptance device that
allows merchants to accept
card payments.
y The Tap on Phone app
enables merchants to turn
their smartphones into card
machines. This free-to-
download app enables
business owners to accept
electronic payments from
anywhere without having to
incur the service fees of a
card machine.
Insurance
solutions
VF Cash – Egypt
VF Cash is an e-wallet and financial
services platform catering to the
banked and unbanked. It offers
money transfer, e-commerce,
insurance, savings, donation
services and utility, merchant and
tuition payments.
VF Cash is focused on growing its donations service.
The Vodafone Foundation launched a purpose-
based campaign during Ramadan in partnership
with the renowned Magdy Yacoub Heart Foundation
to match-fund customer donations some of which
were made through VF Cash. The raised amount will
cover day-to-day medical operations for children
with dire medical needs for a year.
US$35.9 billion
in transactions (FY2023: US$20.4 billion)
8.2 million
active customers (FY2023: 5.4 million)
Lending and advance solutions
y VodaLend Cash Advance is a nano-lending solution that
provides affordable access to funds for customers who
have the greatest need for it, but have historically been
unable to access funds due to high fees and difficult-to-
navigate paperwork. With Cash Advance from VodaLend,
available through the VodaPay app, consumers can apply
for cash amounts of as little as R50, up to R500.
y VodaLend | Business Cash Advance provides funding
of up to R1.5 million for merchants using one of our card
machines.
y Business Term Advance provides fast, easy, paperless
access for up to R5 million in funding to business
customers.
66.2 million
financial inclusion customers
(FY2023: 58.9 million)2
US$381.2 billion
Mobile Money transactions (of which
US$345.1 billion is M-Pesa) (FY2023:
US$385.2 billion of which US$364.8
is M-Pesa)
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
26
28. M-Pesa – Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho
Tanzania
y Cross-border remittances are easily made from M-Pesa wallets.
y The M-Pesa Visa card is a virtual debit card that connects Tanzanians
to e-commerce opportunities globally with online payments.
y M-Pesa Lipa supports the country-wide digitisation of payments and
the migration to a cashless society.
y M-Pesa in Tanzania was selected to support the government’s
disbursement to support low-income families under the Tanzania
Social Action Fund.
y M-Pesa is facilitating the disbursement of National Prosecution
Service funds to National Court attendants. We supported the
disbursements of R21 million to 6 464 attendants.
DRC
y Foreign exchange solutions are provided in partnership with
Equity Bank.
y Seasonal discounts are offered on goods and services.
y Customers can pay their water utility bills.
M-Pesa has grown from being a means of money transfer to
becoming a way of life and a channel for poverty alleviation.
Humanitarian crises triggered by conflict in eastern DRC are
driving people to seek refuge in temporary shelters. The World
Food Programme provides cash assistance via M-Pesa to help
refugees adjust to a new life.
M-Pesa payment solutions
Tanzania
y M-Koba is a group saving solution in
partnership with the Tanzania Commercial
Bank.
y M-Pawa allows customers to save money
using their phones, earn interest from
their savings and gain instant access to
affordable microloans.
DRC
y Lona o defa is a microloan and savings
service provided in partnership with FINCA
DRC. It enables customers to save on
M-Pesa, earn interest and access loans.
Mozambique
y Xitique is a group saving solution. Having
learned that 128 391 women were using
Xitique, we ramped up training and
financial upskilling programmes for
women.
Lesotho
y Mokhatlo is a group saving solution that
empowers community saving.
176 311M-Koba active
groups in Tanzania with R2.9 billion
saved and R2.5 billion withdrawn
R618 million in loans
extended through M-Pawa in Tanzania,
with 309 381 active subscriptions
delivering over R1.5 billion monthly
savings
M-Pesa savings solutions
2 Empowering our customers continued
Mozambique
y The e-voucher service allows vouchers to be easily issued through
M-Pesa. The rollout of the service is awaiting approval by the Bank
of Mozambique.
Lesotho
y Pension payments allow beneficiaries to access their funds quickly,
conveniently and safely.
y Customers can pay their taxes,waterutilitybills and licence
renewalfees.
M-Pesa – Delivering financial inclusion through mobile
Financial services Including payments, local and international remittances,
savings, lending overdraft and foreign exchange
Access to personal
services
Including healthcare, education, employment,
transportation and social protection
Money transfer
services
M-Pesa is integrated with money transfer hubs in Africa
and beyond, allowing customers to send and receive
cross-border remittances and purchase from international
merchants and content providers
Supporting SME
access to
e-commerce
M-Pesa SME solutions and merchant payment simplify
and expand access to e-commerce
55.4 million
M-Pesa customers
(Including Safaricom)
1 million
merchants accept M-Pesa and
616 791 agents serve M-Pesa
customers (FY2023: 803 000
merchants, 552 612 M-Pesa agents)
M-Pesa is Africa’s biggest financial services provider based on transactions processed.
M-Pesa delivers financial inclusion by providing financial services to people and
businesses with a mobile phone and limited access to a bank account.
M-Pesa solutions across our geographies include:
M-Pesa
payment
solutions
M-Pesa
savings
solutions
M-Pesa
insurance
solutions
M-Pesa lending
and advance
solutions
Watch M-Pesa impact story
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
27
29. M-Pesa – Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho
447 047 VodaBima policy
holders in FY2024
Tanzania
y VodaBima provides immediate access
to insurance services in partnership with
20 motor and health insurance providers.
y We provided one-year comprehensive
health insurance coverage to 600
mothers at regional referral hospitals.
Mozambique
y We offer an affordable funeral
insurance plan in partnership with
Sanlam Vida Moçambique, the country’s
first digital microinsurance product.
To celebrate its 10th
anniversary in
Mozambique, M-Pesa, in partnership
with the FSDMoç and FINTECH. MZ,
organised a fintech conference with
200 attendees. The International
Finance Corporation signed a
cooperation agreement with
Vodacom to bolster M-Pesa in
Mozambique, in a move to boost
financial inclusion.
Lesotho
y We launched Mpate Sheleng funeral
cover, which is affordable and accessible
to all customers.
Tanzania
y Songesha is an overdraft facility in partnership with Tanzania Postal Bank.
y Mgodi allows M-Pesa customers to save and access mid-sized loans.
y Chomoka allows drivers to fuel up on credit at filling stations with the
Lipa kwa Simu service.
y Insurance Premium Financing allows drivers to complete payments for
their insurance cover without funds.
y Wakala Songesha and Wezesha Wakala are mobile financial services
that enable M-Pesa agents to access instant overdraft facilities and
larger short-term loans.
DRC
y M-Pesa Rallonge, developed with Access Bank, is a micro overdraft
facility for customers with insufficient balances to complete their
transactions.
y Txuna M-Pesa is a nano-loan marketplace pilot with Moza Banco.
Lesotho
y Ntlatse is an overdraft facility that provides customers with an instant
top-up when making a transaction without sufficient funds.
y Nkalime provides microloans to qualifying customers through M-Pesa
in partnership with Airvantage Lesotho.
92 705 active Wakala Songesha customers in Tanzania with
a R8.4 billion lending portfolio
54 156Wezesha Wakala agents and over R702 million
in Wzesha Wakala loans were extended in Tanzania
M-Pesa Rallonge has 1.2 million active and 4.1 million
base users, with R43 million in loans extended to date in DRC
M-Pesa lending and advance solutions
M-Pesa insurance solutions
Airtime Advance in South Africa, Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique, and
Lesotho allows customers to get airtime or data, which is paid off when
the customer next recharges. R14.7 billion in Airtime Advance was
extended to 30 million customers (FY2023: R12.8 billion, 14 million
customers, previously only available in South Africa and Tanzania).
Airtime advance
2 Empowering our customers continued
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Purpose
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Protectingtheplanet
28
30. 2.2 Supporting SMEs to thrive in a digital world
SMEs are critical in supporting economic growth and employment.
We provide business support and innovative technology to foster their
development. We support entrepreneurs, start-ups, small enterprises
and our SME suppliers by delivering connectivity, tailored platforms,
solutions, products and services, training and financial support. We
connect SMEs through guidance on available solutions, advice and best
practice information, improving their digital readiness.
V-Hub is an online resource portal that connects SMEs to expert advice,
information on operating in a digitalised world, web development, digital
marketing, remote working and cyber security, and a diverse software-as-
a-service and digital solutions portfolio. Central to the hub is the V-Hub
Knowledge Centre, a virtual repository that acts as an open library
offering digital tools and resources spanning tech and innovation. The
V-Hub Advisory service in Egypt and South Africa, which is in the
planning phase, will offer free consultancy to its customers, aiming to
engage them through a simple scheduling process and match customer
requests with skilled agents.
185
Innovator Trust black
SME beneficiaries in South
Africa, of which 37.0% are black
women-owned (FY2023: 147)
289 563
unique V-Hub visitors
in South Africa
and Egypt
Vodafone Business in Egypt remains the exclusive sponsor of the entrepreneurial reality show Shark Tank
Egypt. The series highlights the investment and start-up process, encourages a nationwide conversation
around entrepreneurship, and directly assists promising entrepreneurs with mentorship and capital.
Through a partnership with the Global
Entrepreneurship Network, BAM
Consultancy Foundation and Business
Doctors NGO, we hosted the
Entrepreneurship World Cup in
Lesotho for more than 400 budding
young entrepreneurs.
In collaboration with the Innovator
Trust in South Africa we organised
the annual Women in Tech awards
ceremony for top female-owned SMEs.
Watch Innovator Trust conference
We launched the AI and Big Data
digital transformation initiative in
South Africa for 50 SMEs, these SMEs
received 24 hours of training via
specialist masterclasses on using AI
and other digital tools.
The third season of the Digital
Accelerator in Tanzania supported
early-stage and growth-stage
technology start-ups, developing
disruptive products and services with
the potential to enter the market and
scale into profitable, revenue-
generating enterprises. 210
applications were received, 15
successful applicants participated in a
product design bootcamp, and seven
were selected for the acceleration
phase.
M-Pesa Merchant Xchange was a
cashless market demonstration in
Lesotho. 500 attendees used
mobile money to pay for tickets,
food, beverages, apparel, tech
accessories, makeup, tattoos,
piercings, and child-minding
services. Over 40 vendors
showcased their products and
services and experienced the safety
and convenience of accepting
cashless payments.
Watch M-Pesa Merchant Xchange
2 Empowering our customers continued
53%
of the entrepreneurs
reported income growth
Supported by Vodacom
Mozambique, M-Pesa and the
Vodacom Foundation, Orange
Corners Maputo is an initiative of
the Kingdom of The Netherlands
that provides young entrepreneurs
with training, networks and facilities
to start and grow innovative
enterprises.
1 802
entrepreneurs
trained through the
incubation programme
70%
of entrepreneurs
create new jobs
83%
of enterprises
active a year later
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Protectingtheplanet
29
31. Through Mozambique’s local content development
programme, SMEs are trained in basic management,
compliance, and potential supply chain readiness. 9 SMEs
received training (FY2023: 25).
We hosted the Vodafone Business Digital Transformation
Summit to bring together leaders in Egypt’s technology sector,
and the SME Thrive Summit in South Africa to equip SMEs
with ideas, tools, and technological levers for enterprise
growth. Two entrepreneurs won an intensive full-day business
consultation with Vodacom South Africa’s CEO Sitho Mdlalose,
and key executives, and R50 000 for business expansion.
We provide cyber security integrated solutions and support
to our business customers through Vodacom Business’
security incident and event monitoring and security
operations centre. Our solutions and services protect our
business customers from evolving cyber threats and allow
them to adapt to a new model of security necessitated by
hybrid working and remote, cloud-based environments, as
well as the emergence of AI.
The proactive security incident and event monitoring
offered within our security operations centre enables
enterprises to assess, detect, prevent and respond to
security anomalies, potential hacks and breaches.
We leverage the global Vodafone network and partnerships
to make enterprise-grade security services accessible to
organisations of all sizes.
Read more about how Vodacom manages cyber
security on Page 65
Helping businesses manage cyber risks
SME customers
We offer click-to-buy services covering mobile, endpoint
and network security through the cyber-as-a-service
marketplace.
Mid-market enterprise customers
We provide vulnerability assessments, penetration testing,
cyber exposure diagnostics, firewall management, phishing
awareness campaigns, full-scale managed detection and
response, breach response and forensic services.
Larger and multinational organisations
We offer network, endpoint and managed security solutions
to enhance mobile and fixed portfolios.
Digital technologies enhance organisations by creating efficiencies, reducing costs, improving
services and generating data that strengthens decision-making. The digitalisation of
organisations is a key enabler of growth for businesses and increased service delivery and
efficiency in the public sector. We work with organisations to provide carefully selected digital
products and services to improve efficiency and productivity.
2.3 Digitalising larger organisations and critical sectors
452 745 movable and 578 542immovable assets
are registered on smart asset management solutions in South Africa
(FY2023: 261 654 movable, 233 119 immovable)
10.3
million
IoT connections
(FY2023: 9.4 million)
9 671commercial and
45 387 residential electricity smart
meters in South Africa (FY2023: 6 324
commercial, 37 509 residential)
2 Empowering our customers continued
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32. Smart metering allows municipalities and businesses to reduce carbon emissions
and revenue losses. In South Africa, smart electricity metering supports 3
municipalities, with 55 058 meters connected in FY2024. Vodacom trains and
employs university graduates as installers and auditors for this solution.
Our utility asset management, previously smart asset management, in
South Africa facilitates remote monitoring and the optimal management and
maintenance of assets, while enabling compliance with accounting standards.
Customers include asset-rich industries such as government, enterprises with
multiple assets such as transport and logistics companies, and farming and
agricultural operations. In FY2024 we tracked over 1 million assets through this
solution, more than double what was tracked in FY2023.
We offer fleet management solutions in South Africa, Egypt and Tanzania which
give organisations full visibility of their assets and use data analytics to improve
efficiencies and manage risks. This solution will launch soon in DRC and Lesotho.
Read more about how we enabled customers to reduce their emission
through this solution on Page 45
Case study
Seamless digital home solutions
We signed a strategic partnership with Tatweer Misr, a renowned real estate
developer in Egypt, to rollout triple-play services and our latest smart
home solutions across the Bloomfields compound. Bloomfields, spread
across 168 hectares, includes a diverse range of properties, such as villas,
townhouses, duplexes, lofts, and apartments. Our partnership will provide
residents of Bloomfields with an array of high-quality communication and
technology services, including high-speed internet, mobile connectivity,
smart home solutions, and digital entertainment options.
Vodafone Egypt has signed strategic partnerships with 17 real estate
developers to provide 25 compounds with triple-play services and smart
home solutions.
Netstar partnered with Vodacom to empower taxi commuters
nationwide to use WiTaxi, a free in-taxi Wi-Fi service in
South Africa. The platform also maps out hazards such as
potholes, heavy traffic and accidents.
Our Connected Worker solution in South Africa is a
track-and-trace wearable device with a linked data insights
dashboard that gives real-time feedback to health and safety
officers. 95 businesses are currently subscribed to this service
and 6 000 workers are tracked.
The Umoja App in DRC is a digital workplace tool that
provides employees with real-time information, including
health and safety updates, human resources (HR) and payroll
details, training and employee feedback channels. 2 300
employees of Glencore Mutanda were connected through
Umoja in FY2024. Vodacom also supports Glencore to
improve network coverage across the mining site and
nearby town.
We offer Cold Chain in Egypt which is a real-time IoT
humidity and temperature monitor to minimise the wastage
of food, pharmaceutical materials and other products that
need to be stored under specific conditions.
We partnered with Lesotho government departments,
including the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning,
Ministry of Gender and Social Development, Ministry of Public
Works and Transport, and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service
to enhance the delivery of government services, including
paying pensions and traffic fines.
We support and empower government institutions, tax
authorities and Eduardo Mondlane University, the largest
university in Mozambique, to digitalise their payment
systems.
Vodacom SmartGov offers a robust and feature-rich
solution that is purpose-built for the unique challenges of
the South African government. SmartGov targets
cumbersome administrative processes, ensuring cleaner
audits. More than 25 government departments benefit
from this solution.
Our Tanzanian Government Electronic Payment
Gateway is used by 773 (FY2023: 325) government
institutions to support transactions with citizens.
Transactions totalling R4 billion were recorded in FY2024.
We signed a memorandum of understanding with the
Tanzanian e-Government Agency, outlining
collaborative activities to enhance government
communication systems and digital operations, thereby
accelerating development and service provision.
2 Empowering our customers continued
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31
33. 1. Mckinsey, 2023.
We work with Mezzanine and the
South African Department of Health
to support health facilities through
technical solutions such as HealthX,
eLABS and Stock Visibility Solution.
y HealthX in South Africa is an
electronic vaccination data system,
developed in partnership with the
Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research.
y eLABS in South Africa and Zambia
improves testing, analysing and
reporting in laboratories with
electronic monitoring of sample
locations, replacing paper-based
pathology management.
y Stock Visibility Solution
addresses inefficiencies in
medicine supply chains by
providing digital data and real-time
reporting of drug stock levels to
reduce drug stock-outs.
y AitaHealth in South Africa digitises
healthcare delivery in communities,
reducing paper-based processes,
supporting data-driven policy
making and improving access to
care. AitaHealth enabled the
National Department of Health to
register 371 552 households and
screen 1.7 million individuals to
promote community wellness and
provide medical services better
tailored to particular communities.
y LEAP/Communicator in Kenya
and Tanzania is a mobile learning
platform for health workers across
Africa. More than 126 660 training
messages have been sent to
community health volunteers.
Digitalising healthcare
Digital health tools can improve
patient outcomes and deliver better
healthcare to the underserved. By
expanding their use of these tools,
African health systems could realise
up to 15% efficiency gains by 2030
and reinvest the savings to improve
access and outcomes1
. We work
with key strategic partners in the
health sector to support health and
social care providers to benefit from
the opportunities that digital tools
and better access to data offer.
6.4 million
tests conducted through
eLABS in South Africa and
Zambia (FY2023: 6.6 million)
13.7 million
stock updates 3 267 public
health facilities through the
Stock Visibility Solution in
South Africa and Kenya
(FY2023: 15.6 updates,
4 995 facilities)
6.3 million
People served through UHI
and Hospital digitalisation in
Egypt across 309 hospitals
We supported the fight against malaria in Mozambique
by co-funding the Global Fund’s Goodbye Malaria
programme and supporting anti-malaria spraying and
communications campaigns. 597 066 (FY2023: 663 044)
households were reached in the FY2024 campaign,
impacting 1.9 million (FY2023: 2 295 802) lives. Goodbye
Malaria has impacted the lives of 6.2 million people.
Watch m-mama: connecting pregnant women to emergency
care in rural Africa
We continue to support the government-led, technology-
based, affordable emergency transport system known as
m-mama in partnership with the Vodafone Foundation.
Following the overwhelming success of its pilots, which
focused on providing maternal and newborn emergency care,
m-mama is live and active across Tanzania and Lesotho, and
its usage has surged.
After the initial success of the maternal care platform,
m-mama is being expanded to encompass general
emergency transport and to additional regions, including DRC
and Kenya.
We also offer holistic professional services, including
consulting and learning opportunities to partners and
customers. 30 000 Egyptian healthcare employees (FY2023:
25 000) have been trained to use our digital solutions.
We launched two cutting-edge digital health solutions in
South Africa in partnership with the Free State Department of
Health. Computer Aided Dispatch is an efficient dispatching
system built on benchmarked standards. The solution
provides a transparent platform that effectively tracks
ambulance movements, patient records, departmental
resources and equipment use. The Assisted Reality
Medico-legal Surveillance System empowers frontline
medical workers with a hands-free voice-enabled system to
conduct audio and visual recordings of medical procedures.
We spearheaded the largest digital transformation projects
in the Egyptian healthcare sector by leading the charge in
two pivotal national endeavours: the UHI initiative and
digitalising Egyptian University Hospitals. The two
initiatives are live in 309 hospitals (FY2023: 197) and
served 6.3 million citizens (FY2023: 5 million) while at least
15 million citizens are targeted through our digital
healthcare solutions.
We partnered with Egypt Air Hospital and Airport Clinics
to offer cloud healthcare services and solutions in Egypt.
Mum Baby, offered in South Africa, DRC, Mozambique
and Lesotho, is a mobile health service that provides
information on maternal, neonatal and child health and
well-being.
Tanzania Lesotho Total
Emergency calls 54 566 5 067 59 633
Estimated lives saved 1 734 122 1 856
2 Empowering our customers continued
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32
34. Mezzanine offers solutions to digitalise and transform agricultural practices.
Mezzanine solutions are available in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. 6.4 million
(FY2023: 5 million) farmers are registered on the Mezzanine platforms.
y MYFARMWEB™ is a cloud-based web platform that supports commercial farms with
best practice decision-making through the internet.
y eVuna is Mezzanine’s suite of smallholding agriculture offerings, which includes:
| Dairy management and Seasonal: SMS-based systems that digitally records and
reconciles milk or seasonal crop produce deliveries
| Vouchering: a solution that allows a third party (e.g. government) to issue
e-vouchers to smallholder and subsistence farmers
| Marketplace: a digital marketplace that connects smallholder farmers to
information, inputs, financial services and buyers.
Mezzanine facilitated the issuing of vouchers to farmers in FY2024:
M-Kulima is an easy-to-use mobile and web-based platform in Tanzania that
enables multiple stakeholders to communicate and transact with farmers to
provide digital payments and advisory services. The platform has a base of
3.2 million registered farmers. They access M-Pesa financial services,
including B2C payments for their crops, microloans and group savings.
Insurance products are currently being piloted.
Watch M-Kulima
We are piloting the Moloni agritech platform in DRC which provides farmers
with weather reports, sustainable farming advice, and a digital marketplace
connecting agricultural value chain players. The platform is being developed
in partnership with Kinshasa Digital Academy (KADEA) and tested among
1 000 farmers across three regions.
The United Nations Women, the South African Women in Farming and
Vodacom Foundation, implemented a programme to equip female farmers
with ICT skills. 3 279 farmers have been trained through the programme.
15 million vouchers
through the Kenyan Agri Value Chain
subsidy programme and MERTI
Integrated Development Programme
were distributed to almost 6 million
beneficiaries.
52 962
vouchers were awarded in South
Africa, valued at R744 million, through
the partnership with the Department
of Agriculture, Land Reform and
Rural Development.
Digitalising agriculture
Agricultural productivity is vital for Africa’s
economic future, and enhancing productivity
and competitiveness is key to unlocking this
potential. We partner with our subsidiaries,
Mezzanine, M-Pesa and IoT.nxt, to provide
various agricultural digitisation tools and
platforms that enable efficient distribution
and use of inputs, unlock markets and
facilitate payments.
9.6 million
registered users on agricultural platforms
in South Africa, Tanzania and DRC
(FY2023: 8.2 million)
15 million
Agri-vouchers issued to farmers in
South Africa and Kenya
(FY2023: 2 million)
2 Empowering our customers continued
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33
35. We aim to positively impact communities in
the areas in which we operate, focusing on
youth, the underserved and marginalised
people. We leverage the transformative
power of connectivity to expand access to
high-quality education, support jobseekers
to enter the future-focused world of work,
and assist people with disabilities or
experiencing abuse.
3 Supporting
communities
1. The World Bank, 2022. 2. World Economic Forum, 2020.
Case study
Providing the tools for better
education
Ta3limy is a free educational platform for Egyptian K-12 students,
parents and teachers with 378 890 registrations (FY2023: 341 818).
Ta3limy provides world class content on the national curriculum,
digital literacy and soft skills. We support parents through training in
positive parenting, cyber security, languages and soft skills. Our
support for teachers comprises a comprehensive and holistic
professional development platform.
To expand the awareness of Ta3limy for those who are not privileged
with resources and connectivity, we provided 80 more (FY2023: 100)
schools in rural Haya Karima villages with connectivity, devices and
training, reaching more than 200 000 (FY2023: 350 000) beneficiaries
on-ground.
The Vodafone Egypt Foundation introduced the soft launch of the
Ta3limy App in 2023. This app offers easier and quicker access to the
platform’s high-quality content, encouraging students to stay engaged
throughout the year. Incentivised competitions are held, and winning
students are awarded tablets and other learning equipment.
The Vodafone Egypt Foundation has scaled its partnership with the
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to provide
Digital Egypt Builders Initiative, Digital Egypt Marvels Initiative, Digital
Egypt Cubs Initiative and Digital Egypt Pioneers Initiative students with
special access to Ta3limy. Through partnerships with entities such as
Well Spring and the National Council for Women, we provide parents
with the necessary tools to place them in the same sphere of
knowledge as their children.
3.1 Enabling education
Nearly nine in 10 children in sub-Saharan Africa cannot read and understand a simple text by
age 101
. Over 230 million jobs will require digital skills in Africa by 2030, meaning many African
children will likely be excluded from these opportunities2
.
102 557
users of VodaEduc in DRC with 900 primary and
secondary school scholarships
(FY2023: 94 491 VodaEduc users, 700 scholarships)
378 890
Ta3limy
registrations
(FY2023: 341 818)
INS
Egypt Tanzania DRC Mozambique
INS centres 48 11 29 19
Pupil beneficiaries 88 936 36 030 40 820 71 148
Teacher beneficiaries 2 448 361 781 1 465
INS was set up in 2013 by the Vodafone
Foundation and the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, the
UN Refugee Agency, to give young
refugees, host communities and their
teachers access to digital learning
content and the internet, improving
the quality of education in some of
the most marginalised communities
in Africa.
VodaEduc in DRC offers free maths,
sciences, information technology (IT),
economics and finance educational
content to learners and teachers through
an updated and expanded e-curriculum.
Our e-learning solution in South Africa allows learners to access curriculum-aligned content and
educators to access learning materials on their smartphones with no data charges. The platform
has 1.3 million registered users. The e-learning solution is called e-Fahamu in Tanzania. The
e-Fahamu platform registered 42 181 users in FY2024 bringing the total of registered users
to 227 181.
INS impact since inception
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Protectingtheplanet
34
36. 3 Supporting communities continued
The Vodacom Lesotho Foundation hosted a successful two-month winter
robotics bootcamp to teach 100 children and youth aged between five and
25 about building and programming robots using coding. The bootcamp
was held at the Innovation Park, Vodacom Lesotho’s entrepreneurship
incubation hub at Maseru Mall, in partnership with the Girls Coding
Academy. The bootcamp culminated in a mini expo where participants
showcased the gadgets, innovations and devices they had designed.
We partnered with Silabu, a cutting-edge platform in Tanzania that enables
students to quickly connect with vetted tutors for personalised tutoring.
Providing devices and connectivity to learners,
schools and teachers
Digital education holds the potential to level the playing field,
especially given the growing rate of connectivity in Africa. Students
and teachers can access learning resources and classroom
collaboration software through our learning platforms. Our school
management platforms and digital and connectivity solutions drive
efficiency in educational institutions.
Read about South Africa’s education ecosystem on Page 36
South Africa
Education ecosystem
Educational SIMs
y 6 589 SIMs sold
y Haya Karima
Provided public schools with fully equipped and connected
computer labs in 80 (FY2023: 100) additional schools across
five governorates reaching over 200 000 (FY2023: 350 000)
beneficiaries.
Egypt
Tanzania
Connected Schools
y 32 (FY2023: 52) schools and institutions of higher learning
connected
y 159 schools supplied with the supakasi shule 100GB data
packages under a Universal Communications Service Access
Fund sponsorship
Digital classes
y 7 installed
VodaEduc’s connected classrooms
y Renovating existing classrooms with desks and connectivity
y Equipped 12 regions with new 40-student-capacity
connected classrooms
DRC
Faz Crescer
y More than 301 069 learners and teachers connected
since 2018
y Data allowance has grown from 150GB to 600GB/month
constructed computer labs in 31 schools bringing
total to 86
Free connectivity
y Free Wi-Fi connectivity piloted in 50 schools
Mozambique
Wi-Fi routers donation
y 276 routers donated to the Network of Early Child
Development of Lesotho for use in grade R classes
Fixed or wireless connectivity
y In partnership with the Lesotho Communication Authority
161 rural schools connected (FY2023: 201)
Lesotho
The Vodafone Egypt Foundation collaborated with Al Manfaz
and brands such as Nestlé, PepsiCo and Mountain View to build
a computer lab for a Cairo school and donate 10 000 backpacks
filled with school supplies. The second volunteering event with
Al Manfaz during Ramadan yielded 3 800 food supply boxes
packaged by our employees.
Watch Faz Crescer
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet
35
37. NXT LVL in South Africa offers registered youth customers
connectivity and preferential rates on value bundles and devices,
digital skills, lifestyle and entertainment services.
We partnered with Microsoft South Africa to provide free access
to digital training courses through the Mzansi Digital Learning
platform. The platform aims to address South Africa’s digital-
skills gap by providing access to scarce skills aligned with the
digital economy. The Mzansi Digital Learning platform is hosted
on the new NXT LVL rewards platform and integrated with the
ConnectU zero-rated service. Microsoft South Africa works
closely with local partner Afrika Tikkun to roll out the Mzansi
Digital Learning platform, which is targeted to reach 300 000
people.
The Vodacom Digital Lab in DRC, in partnership with the KADEA,
promotes sustainable digital connectivity and skills development
across the country. Vodacom labs have been installed in Kinshasa,
Lubumbashi, and Goma; the labs utilise Vodacom’s technology to
address SDGs in DRC. So far, 2 753 students have been trained
online, with 412 receiving on-site training.
The Vodacom Elite programme, which aims to provide a
transformative experience for future leaders younger than 30,
represents a unique opportunity for talented young people to join
Vodacom DRC and gain valuable experience in the digital field.
Supporting jobseekers and empowering youth
We support those seeking employment and opportunities through
affordable connectivity, job platforms and work experience activities.
2.6
registered users
on NXT LVL
(FY2022: 4 million)
171
Youth Academy graduates in our
youth development volunteering
programme (FY2022: 75)
% of labour force unemployed in 2023
South Africa
32.3
Egypt
7.3
Tanzania
2.3
DRC
4.6
Mozambique
3.87
Lesotho
17.5
Infrastructure and ICT
y The number of Schools of Excellence increased from 13 to 25.
y Eight of these were provided with virtual classroom solutions,
and two have a coding and robotics programme.
y More than 2 500 (FY2023: 3 000) schools have been connected
and provided with ICT equipment.
Pillar 2
Pillar 3
Communities
y More than 1 600 (FY2023:1 480) Youth Academy learners were
trained in ICT since inception.
y Since 2018, 203 (FY2023: 160) unemployed young people have
been recruited from Youth Academy alumni.
Vodacom Foundation education ecosystem in South Africa
Pillar 1
ECD centres
y 27 (FY2023: 15) ECD centres benefit more than 1 800 (FY2023: 700)
children have been upgraded, renovated and provided with ICT
equipment, mobile libraries, and water and sanitation facilities.
Pillar 4
Learning materials
y More than 1.3 million registered users accessed a quality digital
curriculum via unlimited, free internet access.
y 25 university and 58 technical and vocational education and
training college websites were zero rated.
Pillar 5
School leadership
y 92 teacher centres have been furnished and provided with internet
connectivity in collaboration with the Department of Basic
Education and Microsoft.
Pillar 6
Partnerships
y 125 young people received IT training in FY2024 (and 1 631 since
inception) in partnership with Microsoft, Cisco and the MICT SETA.
191
bursaries awarded of
which 78 were to
women (FY2023: 112
bursaries; 54 women)1
16
bursars, graduated and
were placed as graduates
or interns (FY2023: 17)
R15.7
million
invested in bursaries
1 187
bursaries awarded
since 2014
Our bursary programmes in South Africa, DRC and Lesotho,
support full-time undergraduate students. We plan to expand
the programmes to other OpCos in FY2024.
Dunia is a conservation and wildlife crime awareness
platform developed by three young Congolese women
trained at the Kinshasa Vodacom Digital Lab who participated
in and won a hackathon funded by Vodacom and USAID. The
platform was handed over to the L’Institut Congolais de
Conservation de la Nature in December 2023.
Read more about Dunia on Page 50
1.
FY2023 restated to include DRC and Lesotho.
3 Supporting communities continued
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Protectingtheplanet
36
38. South Africa
y The Specific Needs Contact and Relay Centre is available to D/deaf
customers or customers with disabilities, such as physical or learning
disabilities or speech, visual or hearing impairments. 11 296 people
received assistance.
y The National Relay Service (NRS) enables customers who are D/deaf,
hearing-impaired, hard of hearing or speech-impaired to communicate in
real time with hearing family or friends.
Egypt
y A call centre for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers uses a specialised
bundle for free video calls. 35 000 people were served in FY2024 through
the centre, which employs four deaf individuals and two expert speakers.
Tanzania
y 171 stores support wheelchair access.
y All stores include a priority desk for persons with disabilities.
y Sign language services and support for customers with hearing disabilities
are provided in 64 stores.
y Video call sign language services are provided via our call centre.
y 30 retail employees have been trained in sign language.
y We launched a dedicated helpdesk for blind people.
TheYouthAcademyinSouthAfricatrainslearnersonICTsubjects.
Read more about Youth Academy on Page 36
Our youth development volunteer programme in South
Africa enables Youth Academy graduates to gain work
experience in Vodacom-sponsored non-profit organisations,
schools of excellence and early childhood centres. 98 youth
were placed through this initiative in FY2024.
The She Works Wonders programme is an external woman
development programme launched by PepsiCo in 2022 to train
newly graduated women with skills required to work in
“unconventional” fields. Through the Egyptian Gender Alliance
(EGA), Vodafone Egypt partnered with PepsiCo to create a
pipeline of 1 200 female candidates in the technology and
sales fields at Vodafone Egypt.
Our internship programme in South Africa offers a 12-month
fixed-term contract, which provides workplace experience
underpinned by a carefully designed training programme. In
Mozambique and Lesotho we offer a similar programme that
allows people to gain valuable work experience, explore career
paths, and network with professionals while earning an income.
The same programme offers short-term assignments in Egypt
for up to one month and includes undergraduate and
post-graduate students.
3.2 Helping people with disabilities
Technology has been vital in delivering new levels of accessibility to people with
disabilities. While the tools have been impactful, work can be done to further level the
playing field to ensure equal access to the same opportunities. We enable people with
disabilities to stay connected, live a better life today and build a better tomorrow.
Vodacom is a signatory to the GSMA’s principles for driving the digital inclusion of
persons with disabilities.
We invest in assistive technologies to empower persons with disabilities from primary
school to university level, including:
y Text-based emergency services for D/deaf customers using emergency SMSs
and Vodacom’s 112 emergency app;
y An interactive voice response voicemail option, which allows callers to send a
detailed SMS to a hearing-impaired customer instead of leaving a voice message; and
y Smart digital training centres to train people with disabilities in the use of devices.
We continued to expand our inclusive care initiatives across customer touchpoints,
improving access to our services for people with hearing, visual and physical disabilities.
We provide discounted contract deals online and at selected stores
for people with disabilities in Egypt and include accessibility in
design processes when conceptualising new product and service ideas.
Watch Tanzania’s inclusive care initiatives
143 interns and learners, of whom 92are youth
with disabilities (FY2023: 153)
Read more about EGA on Page 58
We donated to the Resource Centre for the Blind in Lesotho, the
donation went towards the institution’s operations and purchase of
books, assistive devices and utilities.
Deaf South African Sign Language (SASL) users can now make an
appointment with a doctor via Vodacom’s NRS contact centre with the
support of a SASL interpreter. 112 people used the service in FY2024.
We trained and empowered 950 (FY2023: 500) women with disabilities
to become M-Pesa agents in five regions of DRC under Je Suis Cap,
and they are now running their businesses. Vodacom Foundation DRC
supports Operation Smile, an NGO that facilitates surgery for
individuals affected by cleft lip and cleft palate. 242 people have
benefited from the procedure.
To commemorate Disability Rights Awareness Month, Vodacom
South Africa provided 16 000 registered customers with disabilities
with 5GB of data for three months. Meanwhile, the Vodacom Lesotho
Foundation took part in an event for International Day of Persons
with Disabilities, hosted by the Ministry of Social Development.
We partnered with the Cape Town Society for the Blind in
South Africa to support its Smart Digital Training Course, and 81
people were trained.
The Insight Centre in Lesotho is a 4G-supported library at the State
Library, providing visually impaired persons with equal access to
information. The library serves 100 people weekly.
Watch Insight Center
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37
39. 3.3 Helping people
experiencing abuse
Domestic abuse is an epidemic affecting
millions of people around the world, and
one that takes many forms. From physical
and sexual abuse to controlling and
coercive behaviour that isolates victims
from their families. Victims are often
unaware they are being abused or scared
of seeking help. Vodacom works with
various partners to leverage digital
technology to help fight the scourge
of GBV.
The Nokaneng App informs users in
Lesotho about GBV, their rights and
available support services, and offers
emergency tools. The app was
downloaded 15 619 times in FY2024.
We hold GBV awareness campaigns and
continue to support two safe houses in
Lesotho for victims of GBV. The Vodacom
Lesotho Foundation, in partnership with
the UN, is renovating the UN compound
in Maseru to be used as a GBV centre.
3.4 Employee volunteerism
We enable our employees to contribute through payroll giving,
fundraising and volunteering, including activities where employees
can use their professional skills and expertise.
Activities occur throughout the year, including local and global
campaigns such as Nelson Mandela Day, World Read Aloud Day,
World Hunger Day, and days of activism against GBV.
Employees that undertook volunteer activities
South Africa
3 226
Egypt
623
Tanzania
17
DRC
334
Mozambique
261
Lesotho
80
GBV ecosystem
Vodacom Foundation’s approach to
the GBV ecosystem in South Africa
has two pillars.
29 386 people downloaded the
Bright Sky app per month. Following
the 16 Days of Activism against GBV
campaign, we registered more than
76 000 clicks.
More than 1 600 survivors of GBV in
shelters have been empowered with
digital literacy training.
We have placed 25 psychosocial support professionals
across all South African provinces, reaching more than
26 000 learners across 42 schools.
The professionals support educators and learners to deal with
issues of violence, bullying and GBV in schools. A KwaZulu-
Natal learner said: “We couldn’t concentrate [on our studies]
because of family issues. The programme has helped us to
free our minds, and we are now able to concentrate. Through
Vodacom we have a sense of belonging.”
412 families were visited in their homes to help address
family dynamics and social cohesion in communities.
Vodacom South Africa donated R10 million to the GBV and
Femicide Response Fund. It built the first Thuthuzela care
centre in the Eastern Cape. The Vodacom Foundation also
hosts an annual GBV awareness walk.
Pillar 2 Survivor empowerment
Pillar 1 Prevention
Total 4 541
3 Supporting communities continued
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40. 1
Our FY2020 baseline and prior year data have been restated to include Vodafone Egypt.
2
GHG emissions are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2
e) where a tonne is equal to a metric tonne which is equal to 1 000kg.
3
FY2023 restated due to improvements in methodology and to include Egypt for a reflective year-on-year comparison.
Our focus areas at a glance1
28%decrease in scope
1 and 2 market-based GHG
emissions
All OpCos are ISO 50001
certified
0.14tCO2
e
GHG emissions2
per terabyte
of data, down 48%
(FY2023: 0.27tCO2
e/TB)3
0.43MWh per
terabyte of data
energy intensity (FY2023:
0.58MWh/TB)3
Enhanced the Group’s
Climate and TCFD report
to include our emissions
reductions strategy, including
additional information on our
climate transition plan and
associated activities
Provided emergency relief
in DRC, Mozambique,
Tanzania and South Africa
Enhanced ESG data
capabilities to improve the
quality of our data for scope 3
GHG emissions accounting.
Supported customers
in avoiding
1.4million
tCO2
e
(FY2023: 1.0 million tCO2
e)
We provide connectivity and digital
solutions that help to enable the
climate transition and aim to
empower others to reduce emissions,
improve the efficiency of resource
usage and protect nature. We are
working to minimise the
environmental footprint of our
operations, our value chain and our
products and services and improving
the circularity of the technology we
use and sell. This year, we continued
to embed our planet strategy across
our business.
Our Protecting the planet strategy centres
around reducing GHG emissions, enablement,
circularity and biodiversity. We reviewed our near
and long-term planet goals against our business
plans, opportunities and external constraints,
which led to the refresh of some of our goals at
the end of this financial year.
To further integrate planet into our business and
fast-track future actions, we strengthened our
governance, data and systems, risk management
and stakeholder engagement.
93%
of network waste reused
or recycled
(FY2023: 97%)
11 882
consumer handsets reused
(FY2023: 902)
6 029
consumer handsets recycled
(FY2023: 5 355)
Protecting
theplanet
We are committed to a
low-carbon future and
addressing the climate
crisis.
y Responding to climate
change
y Advocating for change
Responding to
climate change
1
As digital demands
increase, we continue
investing in energy
efficiency measures and
technologies to reduce
GHG emissions.
y Driving energy efficiency
y Switching to renewable
energy sources
y Managing diesel use
Delivering net
zero operations
(scope 1 and 2
GHG emissions)
2
Through engagement
and action, we aim to
reduce our value chain
GHG emissions.
y Engaging with our
suppliers on climate
action
y Enabling our customers
to reduce their
emissions
Managing
scope 3 GHG
emissions
3
We are guided by a circular
approach to our resource
consumption.
y Circularity of network
waste
y Circularity of devices
y Reducing virgin plastic use
y Managing general waste
y Managing water
consumption
Driving
circularity
4
We aim to manage and
mitigate our biodiversity
impacts.
y Understanding and
managing our impact
on biodiversity
y Supporting biodiversity
protection through new
technologies
Supporting
biodiversity
5
Protecting the South African
marine ecosystem in
partnership with the World
Wide Fund for Nature
Reforestation with the WWF
in Tanzania and Limomonane
in Lesotho
Tracking protected animals
through Dunia platform in
partnership with USAID
Partnership with Africa Moto
to distribute clean cooking
solutions in DRC
Owl and bird rescues
supported by Owl Rescue
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
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Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 39
41. 1.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
At the core of our climate action, we are:
Embedding climate change into our governance process
Assessing the actual and potential impacts of climate-related risks and
opportunities on our business strategy to better understand and build resilience
in the transition
Leveraging the Group’s enterprise-wide risk management framework, which includes
identifying, assessing and responding to climate-related risks.
FY2024 was the hottest year on record, with average temperatures reaching 1.35°C
above the pre-industrial average1
. These records were accompanied by devastating
extreme events, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned
are just the beginning of an ongoing trend.
The impacts of climate change pose a significant risk to our operations, associated
value chains and the countries in which we operate. We address the global climate
crisis through our efforts to mitigate and address our climate-related impact and risks.
This requires global, regional and local cooperation, individual actions and collective
responsibility to adapt to the changing climate and mitigate GHG emissions to limit
accelerated climate change. We are committed to a low-carbon future and
sustainable environmental practices. We continue to seek ways to build business
resilience when faced with adverse weather. We engage and collaborate with
stakeholders on environmental awareness and climate action.
Addressing climate change is imperative to protect the environment, safeguard
human health, promote economic stability, achieve social justice and secure a
sustainable future.
Notable severe weather impacts
Climate change-related weather events are escalating, with cyclones
and flooding impacting areas in southern Africa.
In April 2024 the Western Cape province in South Africa experienced
heavy storms, winds and fires, destroying infrastructure and homes.
We donated R500 000 to Gift of the Givers to support relief efforts
including providing daily hot meals, blankets, personal hygiene
items, among other essential items.
1.1 Managing climate-related risks and opportunities
1 Responding to climate change
TCFD Read more about our TCFD programme in the Climate and TCFD report
Climate change poses physical risks (i.e. extreme weather events and
natural disasters) and transition-related risks (i.e. those related to
moving to a low-carbon economy). However, it also provides
opportunities for our business. As part of our commitment to
operate ethically and sustainably, we strive to understand climate-
related risks and opportunities and embed responses into our
business strategy and operations.
We continually enhance our policies, processes and reporting
regarding climate change. We conducted various training sessions
on the TCFD, climate-related risks and opportunities and net zero,
reaching employees across functions.
Following a rigorous planning and engagement process, we have
made a commitment to the SBTi to set near-term and long-term
emissions reduction targets. We have also applied for the validation
of the Group’s near-term science-based targets.
Vodacom’s TCFD programme
We enhanced the Group’s Climate and TCFD report to include our
emissions reductions strategy including additional information on
our climate transition plan and associated activities. We revalidated
our key climate risks and opportunities and participated in a global
Vodafone risk review process.
We continued to follow regulatory and disclosure developments
with a focus on the International Sustainability Standards Board’s
IFRS S2 standard and corporate South Africa’s consideration thereof.
Heavy rains in 2023 and 2024 caused major flooding
in 18 of DRC’s 26 provinces. In January 2024 the
government declared a hydrological and ecological
catastrophe after the Congo River overflowed and
flooded the capital, Kinshasa. Mudslides also occurred
in the Kalehe territory in South Kivu, sweeping away
large parts of the Bushushu and Nyamukubi villages.
The DRC Vodacom Foundation launched a campaign
to support affected communities, which included:
y Five minutes of free calls and a toll-free emergency
number;
y Free money transfers via M-Pesa to Kalehe; and
y A community recovery programme empowering
victims through agriculture.
Despite the widespread flooding, our network
experienced minimal interruptions.
El Niño weather conditions resulted in higher-than-
average rainfall, causing disruptions to fibre networks.
In December 2023, a landslide in Hanang affected the
nearby town. We contributed R3.4 million to relief
efforts through sms, voice and data offerings to our
subscribers and working together with other TelCos in
the country through the Tanzania Mobile Network
Operators Association. Relief efforts constituted food
supplies, cleaning products, and blankets.
Cyclone Freddy struck Mozambique in early 2023. We
immediately invoked our crisis management plan to
stockpile supplies and secure people and equipment.
Working with local authorities, the National Institute
for Disaster Management and civil society
organisations, we provided 50 tonnes of humanitarian
assistance reaching over 20 000 people. We enabled a
zero transaction fee fundraising mechanism
through M-Pesa to collect cash donations, and our
zero-rated select products and services enabled
communities to communicate and transact.
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
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Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 40
42. Creating customer and employee awareness
Our RedLovesGreen journey aims to unite Vodacom, our customers and
our partners to create environmental awareness and encourage action
towards a more sustainable future. Through this, we communicate and
educate for a positive impact on climate change.
Activities took place across our OpCos to mark World Environment Day.
In DRC we launched the second edition of the interbusiness challenge to
recycle electronic waste in collaboration with Benelux Afrocenter. In
Lesotho we conducted a radio and social media awareness campaign to
limit plastic and e-waste. In Egypt over 1 000 employees participated in
World Environment Day activities and more than 130 switched to Eco-SIMs.
We received the Earth Guards Award, sponsored by the Ministry of Social
Solidarity, in recognition of our efforts towards achieving sustainable
development.
We launched the Tweak Carbon Calculator in South Africa, a platform that
supports employees with profiling their individual GHG emissions inventory.
Forging partnerships and collaborations
Partnerships are essential to addressing the climate and nature crises and
reducing environmental impact. We work with global, regional and local
partners to deliver on our planet strategy initiatives. We are a signatory of
the UN Global Compact African Business Leaders Coalition’s climate
statement, and we partner with organisations such as the WWF and the
USAID.
In FY2024 we collaborated on various business and sector initiatives,
providing inputs to the:
y Global System for Mobile Communications Association: Energy
Challenges for Mobile Networks in Sub-Saharan Africa; and
y UNGC ABLC Policy blueprint paper.
As part of the virtual wheeling initiative in South Africa, we held a thought
leadership session on “innovation and implementation that is shifting
electricity markets” with the National Business Initiative, regional partner
of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
1.2 Advocating for change
We embarked on an initiative in South Africa to
provide backup power to the Johannesburg
Roads Agency’s traffic lights during
loadshedding to ensure that the traffic signals
along major intersections operated during the
power cuts. This partnership will use electricity
sourced from Vodacom’s adjacent buildings to
power traffic lights. This initiative has improved
the traffic congestion around our buildings and
the surrounding Midrand area, affecting
between 2 000 and 3 000 vehicles.
Read more about these partnerships
on Page 49 and 50
Through a partnership with GasFasta, an
on-demand cooking gas distribution service,
we are increasing accessibility to this health
and more environmentally friendly fuel. At
low prices, Vodacom customers can order
gas cylinders and have them quickly
delivered by GasFasta after paying through
the M-Pesa super-app. To accelerate uptake,
in the first three months post-launch,
customers received a cashback refund and
free delivery for every order. Since launching
in November 2023 approximately 1 000 gas
cylinders have been ordered through the
super-app, with a month-on-month growth
rate of 6%.
Vodacom and M-Pesa partner with ENGIE
Energy Access to offer MySol, a home solar
system with two LED bulbs and phone charging
to Mozambican households for the price of
one candle per day. This partnership makes
high-quality energy accessible on a pay-as-
you-go system, and supports connectivity
and inclusive financial services across rural
Mozambique. We provide ENGIE with free data
and airtime, and M-Pesa enables zero charge
payment through its platform. When their
accounts are paid off, customers own the
system and have access to free solar energy.
ENGIE has reached 217 968 households,
impacting over 1 million people.
1 Responding to climate change continued
Read more about virtual wheeling on Page 45
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43. 618.7 855.2 947.1 904.9 905.7
The ICT sector is responsible for an estimated 1.8% to
2.8% of global GHG emissions1
. As we move towards a
more digital society, with increasing volumes of internet
use and mobile data traffic, we are committed to reducing
our emissions in absolute terms, in line with what science
requires to avoid catastrophic climate change. We are
making progress towards net zero for our operations. We
are committed to working with others across the public
and private sectors to reduce telecommunications sector
emissions in Africa.
Our goal
We aim to achieve net zero GHG emissions from
our operations (scope 1 and 2) by 2035, in line with
a science-based pathway to limit global warming to
1.5°C by 2100.
Our approach to energy management prioritises energy
efficiency first, followed by on-site renewables, offsite
renewables and finally offset mechanisms.
We execute our energy strategy and decarbonisation plan
through the leadership of our Group Technology Energy
Performance centre of excellence. This team coordinates
the development of practical, implementable projects
and initiatives on our journey to becoming net zero in our
operations. Each OpCo energy lead coordinates localised
energy and decarbonisation strategies, which considers
the country’s unique operating contexts, in accordance
with the Group energy strategy. All our OpCos have
obtained ISO 50001 certification, which specifies energy
management system requirements.
2 Delivering net zero
operations
(scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions)
3.
Our FY2020 baselines and prior years’ data were restated to include Vodafone Egypt.
Internal training and awareness is also a key lever for our strategy. Industry
specialists delivered training and included sessions on energy management, energy
efficiency, energy baselining, energy measurement and verification.
Our OpCos have started certified energy manager training towards an
internationally accredited certification from the Association of Energy Engineers.
Supplementary information is available to all employees through the Vodacom
hyperbook platform and ongoing awareness is delivered through newsletters,
screensavers and various other media.
We measure our carbon footprint
using the GHG Protocol Corporate
Accounting and Reporting
Standard. We restated our FY2020
baseline and prior year data to
include Vodafone Egypt.
Group scope 1 and 2 market-based GHG emissions (thousand tCO2
e)3
FY2024 FY2023 FY2022 FY2021 FY2020
baseline
1. Freitag, C.et al., 2021.
GHG emissions overview
2.
Due to the reduction in scope 2 emissions driven by increased renewable energy sourcing.
Our GHG emissions profile at an OpCo level correlates with our operating outputs with
South Africa and Egypt having the highest GHG emissions.
In FY2024, our total scope 1 and
2 market-based GHG emissions
decreased by
28%to 618 747.8tCO2
e
(FY2023: 855 173.2tCO2
e)².
Group scope 1 and 2 market-based GHG emissions (thousand tCO2
e)3
Scope 1
Scope 2
FY2024 scope 1 and 2 market-based GHG emissions by OpCo (tCO2
e)
South Africa 360 552.8
Egypt 116 577.4
DRC 60 744.9
Lesotho 11 487.0
Mozambique 13 859.5
Tanzania 55 526.0
2%
2%
9%
9%
19% 58%
FY2024
FY2023
FY2022
FY2021
FY2020
196.6
192.9
189.2
190.6
186.3
FY2024
FY2023
FY2022
FY2021
FY2020
422.2
662.3
757.8
714.3
719.5
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44. Managing building and technology-centre consumption
We maintain best practices in our technology centres and properties by installing
efficient cooling equipment, lighting and control systems, and ensuring good
housekeeping.
Ongoing energy efficiency initiatives include:
y Hot and cold aisle containment where possible;
y Heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades are implemented where
technology centres are due for refurbishment (with more advanced controls,
including AI); and
y Improved controls and configurations to reduce unnecessary use of equipment such
as lighting and managing heating and cooling set points (for example, through a
building management system).
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) accredited two buildings at
Vodacom South Africa’s headquarters with a five-star existing building
performance certification. Resource efficiency, especially regarding energy,
water, and waste management, are important features that the GBCSA assess
when awarding the certification.
The C2 building on the Smart Village Campus in Egypt maintained the
international accreditation for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) Gold Certification for Operations and Maintenance. Maintaining LEED
Gold in this category ensures that we pay close attention to building operations
through sustainable practices, creating healthier environments and minimising
our impact on the environment. Following smart village C2 building operations
and management Gold LEED Certificate, Vodafone Egypt is in the process to
certify another building.
Green building accreditations
2 Delivering net zero operations (scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions) continued
2.1 Driving energy efficiencies
Our energy consumption is from our access network of base
stations (82%), technology centres (13%), office and warehouse
buildings (3%) and retail stores (1%) and transport (1%).
Where grid power is available, the primary energy source
powering our network of base stations, technology centres,
offices, warehouses and retail stores is grid-supplied electricity
(unless a source of renewable power is available, e.g. solar), with
batteries and diesel generators as a backup energy source.
We spent R4.7 billion (FY2023: R3.8 billion)1
on energy costs, a
23% year-on-year increase driven by higher electricity tariffs and
fuel costs, increased energy consumption due to network
expansion2
,rollout of 5G and loadshedding. Our energy
efficiency measures focus on our base station sites and
technology centres, which account for 95% of our energy
consumption. Our actions include upgrading equipment,
modernising the network, and improving controls and
configurations. Improved energy efficiencies reduce our
dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources,
decreases our GHG emissions and our costs. Our improved
energy efficiency allows us to grow our operations without
increasing our energy consumption at the same rate.
1. FY2023 restated to include Egypt.
2.
Despite an absolute decrease in our scope 1 and scope 2 GHG
emissions, we have consumed more energy and have offset some of
the energy with an increase in renewables.
3. Network-related electricity and fuel costs.
4. Excludes transport.
5. FY2023 restated to include Egypt.
Managing network consumption
We manage network consumption by sourcing and implementing
more efficient network equipment and reducing energy demand by:
y Introducing energy-saving network features;
y Modernising our network equipment and ancillary equipment like
cooling; and
y Designing and selecting energy-efficient equipment for new sites.
We actively upgrade and improve our base stations’ energy
efficiency through better equipment selection and placement. We
are rolling out energy meters and an energy management system
across our base stations to improve our understanding of energy
consumption and identify anomalies and areas of improvement.
Where our strategy involves outsourcing network sites to a tower
management company, our energy performance goals are
prioritised, and we aim for the tower management partner to align
with our net zero plans.
energy intensity (MWh per terabyte of data)
(FY2023: 0.58MWh per terabyte of data)
0.43
energy costs3
(FY2023: R3.8 billion)
R4.7 billion
Energy consumption4
increased by
3%
to 1 922.6GWh (FY2023: 1 862.2GWh)5
R82.0 million
invested in energy efficiency projects
(FY2023: R33.0 million)
Projects can potentially deliver
annual energy savings of
24.1GWh(FY2023: 3.4GWh)
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45. On-site renewable electricity generation is a small
proportion of our total renewable energy consumption.
Major advancements in current technologies will be
required to deploy on-site renewables at scale. In South
Africa, the Midrand solar project is complete, with an
installed capacity of 6MWp, producing up to 10.8GWh per
annum and saving approximately 10 908tCO2
e annually.
2.2 Switching to renewables
Achieving our net zero for operations goal requires
switching to renewable sources of electricity,
including investments to replace diesel generators
with technology that can operate on alternative,
renewable fuel sources, such as green hydrogen.
This process relies on technological advancement
and the availability of renewable fuels.
26% of our total energy consumption is from
renewable sources, including energy generated by
our solar plants, purchased renewable electricity
certificates (RECs) and PPAs, supporting our goal
to match 100% of the grid electricity we use with
electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Where
the grid mix includes renewable sources, this is not
reflected in our renewable energy numbers, but it
is reflected in the grid emission factor that we
apply to calculate our scope 2 emissions.
Investing in on-site renewable energy
Our footprint of base stations extends across
multiple geographies. Most electricity supply from
these national grids is intermittent and suitable
replacements for diesel generators are required.
On-site solar presents a solution; however, it can
be challenging due to limited physical space, site
accessibility, theft, vandalism, maintenance
requirements and other OpCo-specific challenges.
Where Vodacom is not the landlord or does not
control power infrastructure (e.g. generators and
distribution systems), the deployment of on-site
renewables depends on third parties. New rural
base stations are either entirely solar powered or
use a mixture of solar and grid power.
Investing in offsite renewable energy
PPAs provide a mechanism to purchase
renewable electricity, typically at lower cost, from
independent power producers (IPPs). Cost
certainty shields against volatile wholesale
electricity prices and unmanageable cost
increases. We engage governments to facilitate
the development of renewable energy
infrastructure. By working with governments, we
are creating new opportunities for renewable
power purchasing in Africa, and building a more
accessible market for renewables in regions
where access to reliable, safe and environmentally
friendly power has been challenging.
We are collaborating with partners to develop
new innovative solutions for renewable
generation. For example, South Africa has
implemented PPAs for offices and technology
centres, and our virtual wheeling platform will
provide solar and wind energy meeting 30%
of its electricity needs. DRC has an existing PPA
with a microgrid provider. Mozambique’s
legislation recently changed to allow for
microgrids.
We are developing proof-of-concept microgrid
solutions. Private grid-connected PPAs are not
yet possible in Egypt, Lesotho, Mozambique and
Tanzania.
Read more about virtual wheeling on Page 45
We entered an agreement with the NREA in
Egypt to supply us with at least 260GWh of
electricity from NREA’s renewable projects.
As a result, 65% from Vodafone Egypt’s electricity
consumption is now sourced from renewable
energy and an additional 207 offgrid sites are
powered by solar energy.
New solar sites
FY2024 Total
South Africa 1 21
Egypt 77 267
DRC 48 898
Mozambique 106 280
Lesotho 2 105
Tanzania 42 202
2 Delivering net zero operations (scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions) continued
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46. Case study
Virtual wheeling in South Africa
IR Read more about the impact of loadshedding on Page 74 of the
integrated report
1. FY2023 restated to include Egypt.
2.3 Managing diesel use
We used 70.0 million litres of diesel (FY2023: 67.0 million litres)1
, mainly
in stationary generators at our offgrid sites, or sites where grid-supplied
electricity is unreliable. Increased diesel consumption was driven by more
frequent grid power interruptions or intermittent power supply, particularly
in South Africa, Egypt, Mozambique, DRC and Tanzania. A portion of the
increase in Tanzania and DRC is due to more accurate data available for
energy used at base stations managed by third parties.
Increased diesel consumption increases our scope 1 GHG emissions and
impacts our ability to decarbonise. This further introduces reputational risk
due to the noise and air pollution caused by diesel generators near
communities.
In the short term, we focus on prioritising batteries over diesel
generators. In the long term, we seek alternatives to diesel, including
connecting offgrid sites to the grid where possible, deploying wind and
solar where applicable, and exploring newer technologies such as
microturbines and hydrogen fuel cells.
We have electric vehicle charging stations in Egypt, DRC and
South Africa. We have started procuring electric vehicles in some of our
OpCos and continue to investigate a phased rollout across the Group.
Market-based instruments
Purchasing RECs forms part of our energy
management strategy in the following instances:
y In countries where fossil fuel-based electricity
consumption is high, where grid availability is
low or full on-site conversion to renewable
electricity supplies are limited; and
y As an interim mechanism to achieve our
renewable energy sourcing commitments
until we find suitable renewable solutions.
Where possible, we source RECs from within our
operating countries; however Lesotho,
Mozambique, and Tanzania do not have local
issuers of RECs. The incremental cost of RECs (or
their equivalent) is low when considered in the
context of our overall energy spend.
In a first of its kind in South Africa,
Vodacom signed a virtual wheeling
agreement with Eskom in August 2023 to
accelerate efforts to solve the country’s
energy crisis. Traditional wheeling
typically involves a one-to-one
relationship between an IPP and an
offtaker using the national grid to
convey the energy.
While the concept of traditional
wheeling is common practice globally,
it has limitations for companies with a
distributed network of operations.
For example, Vodacom South Africa’s
operating situation is unique due to the
complexities associated with having over
15 000 distributed low-voltage sites across
the country linked to 168 municipalities.
Until this point, this complexity has
prevented Vodacom from accessing
large-scale renewable energy from IPPs.
The virtual wheeling solution addresses
these challenges. After a successful
pilot phase, which concluded in 2022,
and following rigorous testing of the
solution, developed by Vodacom
subsidiary, Mezzanine, is now accessible
to the public and private sector on a
larger scale.
With the agreement in place, Vodacom
can add more renewable electricity
capacity to the grid without impacting
Eskom’s balance sheet while helping to
reduce our GHG emissions. The
blueprint provides an easy-to-follow
roadmap for others in the private sector,
effectively enabling those who want to
benefit from cost savings, reduced
overall GHG emissions and in helping
South Africa to stabilise the grid.
2 Delivering net zero operations (scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions) continued
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47. Scope 3 includes indirect GHG emissions
that we can influence but not control.
The primary sources of our scope 3 GHG
emissions are purchased goods and
services, capital goods and fuel and
energy-related activities. Reliable and
standardised data from across an entire
value chain is fundamental to reducing
scope 3 emissions. In FY2024, Vodacom
collaborated with Vodafone Group Plc to
enhance ESG data capabilities to improve
the quality of our data, including scope 3
GHG emissions.
To further improve the quality of
our scope 3 GHG emissions inventory and
identify the appropriate reduction levers,
we are onboarding two workstreams in the
short term. We are focusing on improving
data quality first, which entails data gap
closure and improved accuracy, and
includes agreements with suppliers on
data privacy and data use. Secondly, we
are identifying appropriate plans to reduce
emissions at a Group and OpCo level.
3.1 Working with partners to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions
We aligned our scope 3 reporting with the GHG
protocol. This year, supported by Vodafone, we
have completed a review of our methodologies
resulting in restatement of our scope 3
emissions for FY2023. This was undertaken to
improve our data quality and estimation
approach alongside the need to reflect portfolio
changes and latest developments in industry
standards and emission factors. We published a
full scope 3 disclosure for the second time and
were able to conduct year-on-year comparisons.
916 419.0tCO2
e
in scope 3 GHG emissions
(FY2023: 1.0 million tCO2
e)1
74%of these emissions were from
purchased goods and services, capital
goods, and fuel and energy-related
activities
Vodacom uses Vodafone’s key global supplier
benchmarks. Suppliers provide details of their
GHG emissions and management programmes
through the CDP, a global disclosure system
that helps companies measure and report their
environmental impacts. Some of our
equipment providers, including Nokia, Cisco,
Microsoft, Google, Amazon and HP, have their
own net zero ambitions. Several of these
operate in countries with a legislative
requirement for net zero plans, making
supplier net zero commitments a primary
passive lever to reduce our supply chain
emissions.
To further reduce the impact of our upstream
supply chain emissions, through Vodafone
Procurement Company, we engaged with our top
suppliers in the procurement process to improve
product carbon footprint data sharing and
identify opportunities for energy efficiency
improvements in hardware and software solutions
to reduce embodied carbon. We continued to
embed ESG into our supplier procurement process,
encouraging more suppliers to participate in the
CDP and set targets for renewable energy and
relevant GHG emissions reduction targets.
Our supplier evaluation request for quotation
processes include an up to 20% weighting for
environmental and social criteria. Our supplier
performance management programme covers
environmental factors, and suppliers’ GHG
performance is considered.
Read more about Eco Rating on Page 48
Part of the ISO 50001 certification process
includes engagements with suppliers to inform
them about our energy management journey,
including GHG emissions reduction targets.
Following these engagements, some suppliers
have indicated that they would like to implement
ISO 50001 certification themselves to manage and
reduce their energy usage and GHG emissions.
Read more about our ISO 15001 certification
process on Page 42
Read more about our supplier management
process on Page 75
3 Managing
scope 3 GHG
emissions
To increase consumer awareness of the climate
impact of smartphones, which can influence our
downstream emissions, we market mobile phones’
Eco Rating scores.
2. GSMA 2019.
3. South Africa with Egypt included from FY2024.
3.2 Enabling our customers to reduce
their GHG emissions
Mobile technologies can reduce GHG emissions by up to 10 times
greater than the carbon footprint of the mobile network itself. This
ratio could double by 20252
.
We develop digital technologies and services that enable our
customers (enterprises and governments) to reduce their
environmental footprint. We began using green digital solutions
to tackle climate change and help decarbonise society. Our IoT
services, including logistics, fleet management and smart metering,
are underpinned by a robust commercial rationale with three main
opportunities for customers.
y Increased efficiency and reduced wastage
IoT enables organisations to monitor operational processes,
identify waste and address the source.
y Using IoT to deliver cost efficiencies
Connectivity allows products and services, such as shared
distribution networks and vehicle sharing, to be automated
and shared, reducing the cost and carbon impact.
y Monitoring and changing customer behaviour
IoT products connect directly to customers, allowing us
to monitor trends, such as shifting demands for energy.
Our fleet management solutions in South Africa, Egypt and Tanzania
give companies full visibility of their assets and use data analysis to
improve efficiencies and manage risks. Route and vehicle usage data
can be used to reduce fuel usage and emissions. The solution serves
1.9 million vehicles (FY2023: 10 000), from cars to heavy trucks.
After implementation, fleets reduced fuel consumption by 25%, with
an associated reduction in emissions. This solution will launch soon
in DRC and Lesotho.
Supported customers in avoiding 1.4 milliontCO2
e
emissions3
(the equivalent of 70 million trees growing for one
year (FY2023: 1 million tCO2
e; 4.0 million tCO2
e since FY2022).
A year-on-year increase of 32% was mainly due to the following
enablement solutions active in FY2024: connected e-mobility,
fleet management, connected car, and smart meters.
1. FY2023 restated to include Egypt.
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Protectingtheplanet 46
48. 4.2 Circularity of devices
Small IT equipment and electronics constitute
around 9% of total e-waste generated3
. We are
committed to reducing our impact by
implementing circularity initiatives with our
partners and other operators. For example,
South Africa and Egypt are participating in
Vodafone’s WWF “1 million phones for the
planet” campaign4
, to raise consumer
awareness of e-waste and incentivise our
customers to bring back their used devices for
trade-in, donation or recycling.
11 882
consumer handsets
reused
(FY2023: 902)
6 029
consumer handsets
recycled
(FY2023: 5 355)
Mobile handsets collected for reuse are devices
returned by a customer through a product
take-back scheme that are intended for future
reuse as product swap stock, insurance service,
good as new stock or sold to a third party
trade-in provider. While mobile handsets
collected for recycling are devices returned by a
customer through a product take-back scheme
that are intended to be recycled.
We support customers in extending the lifetime
of their devices through repair or resale. We
provide 36-month contracts to ensure
high-quality devices are more affordable and
encourage customers to extend the lifetime of
their devices.
3. GSMA (2022), Strategy paper for circular economy.
4.
Our previous metric that measured weight of
products collected via product take-back schemes
is not reported in FY2024 as we have retired it in
place of our partnership with WWF through
Vodafone.
Our RedLovesGreen campaign encourages customers to
return their devices to any of our 35 repair centres in South
Africa. Depending on the returned device’s make, model and
condition, it may be repaired, refurbished, resold or sent for
recycling. We also encourage customers to consider buying
second-life devices. Refurbished devices are certified Good as
New and sold with a six-month warranty, or donated to a
Vodacom-supported school. If the device is not in usable
condition, it is sent to a Vodacom-approved recycling agency.
The Good as New programme aims to drive smartphone
penetration and reduce e-waste by providing certified
pre-owned smartphones at an affordable price, with
6 615 handsets sold in FY20245
.
We continue to collect, refurbish and reuse fixed-line
equipment (such as broadband routers) to drive
environmental well-being and cost savings.
Tackling e-waste through e-TADWEER
Vodafone Egypt partnered
with the Egyptian Ministry
of Environment, the UN
Development Programme and
the Federation of Egyptian Industries to develop the
e-TADWEER solution, which drives circularity solutions
for electronics and devices. In FY2024, e-TADWEER
enabled the recycling of 3 296 devices5
.
4.1 Circularity of network
waste
Our resource efficiency and waste disposal
management programmes minimise the
environmental impacts of network and IT
equipment waste. When reuse options
(either through resale or redeployment) are
exhausted, we recycle obsolete equipment
responsibly using approved recycling
agencies.
We use certified local service providers
to dispose of our telecommunication
equipment when its useful life is exhausted.
Obsolete batteries, classified as hazardous
waste, go to a licensed facility for incineration.
In FY2024, we reviewed internal waste
policies with the intention to improve the
accuracy of reporting. This resulted in a drop
in the overall percentage of network waste
reported as recycled (FY2024: 93% from
FY2023: 97%). No network equipment was
redeployed in the year (FY2023: 36.4 tonnes).
1 273.1
tonnes network equipment recycled
(FY2023: 1 167.1 tonnes)2
1 277.7
tonnes of hazardous
network waste recycled
(FY2023: 1 724.7 tonnes)2
2.
FY2023 restated to include Egypt.
5.
FY2023 comparative not available due to updates on metric
quantification and boundary in FY2024.
E-waste is our business’s second most material
environmental issue, and encouraging circularity is
a key enabler of our planet strategy. Circularity
considers the entire life cycle of a resource and
aims to eliminate waste – thereby reducing
environmental impact. We aim to use resources for
as long as possible to maximise the return on
capital employed following which we recover and
reuse materials responsibly. We seek to manage our
impact sensibly and support our customers’ efforts.
The UN estimates that 50 million tonnes of e-waste
are produced globally each year, with only 20%
formally recycled1
.
As the use of technology expands and develops,
we play our part to address the growing e-waste
problem.
Our waste management policy prioritises safe
and responsible reuse and recycling, and our waste
hierarchy embeds sustainable practices throughout
our operations and supply chain activities.
Our e-waste circularity initiatives consider two
types of e-waste:
y Network equipment, including radio
equipment used to run our fixed and mobile
access networks; and
y Electronic devices, including smartphones and
other devices we sell to customers.
Our goal
To reuse, resell or recycle 100% of our
network waste by 2025.
4 Driving
circularity
1.
UNEP (2019) Tackling the challenge on e-waste
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Protectingtheplanet 47
50. The world is currently undergoing a
dangerous decline in nature with one million
species threatened with extinction,
impacting the lives of billions of people and
economies. In December 2022, 188
governments adopted the Kunming-
Montreal Biodiversity Framework consisting
of four overarching goals to reverse the loss
of nature by 2050.
Although our effect on biodiversity is low, we
aim to better understand its extent and
minimise our infrastructure’s environmental
and visual impact.
Digital technology can be applied to enable
interventions and actions to protect, manage
and restore nature. The so-called nature
technology market is expected to be worth
$6 billion within 10 years1
. We also work with
conservation agencies to explore how
technology can minimise biodiversity loss.
5.1 Understanding and managing our impact
Vodacom has a large and widespread
infrastructure footprint. We conduct
environmental impact assessments and
cooperate with the relevant authorities to
minimise negative impacts. Some of our sites
are in or near biodiverse-sensitive areas.
We increasingly seek to understand our
impact, the risks of biodiversity loss and
opportunities to partner with stakeholders
to prevent further harm. Using tools such as
the biodiversity mainstreaming readiness
assessment conducted by the Endangered
Wildlife Trust, we are shaping our response to
managing our land use impacts and
influencing our suppliers’ behaviour. We
recognise the need for a sustainable approach
to nature and in the coming years, we will
continue to review the biodiversity impacts,
risks and dependencies of our business
operations, products and services in
accordance with best practice.
In FY2024 we engaged with emerging
frameworks such as the Task Force on
Nature-related Financial Disclosures
through the GSMA biodiversity working group.
We require an environmental permit from
the national environment agency in most
countries to construct base stations owned by
us or through a third party. We enable this
through environmental impact assessments
of actual or potential impact on habitats and
species from the construction and
maintenance of base stations.
We incorporate natural habitats into our
infrastructure, including wetlands, nesting
for birdlife and planting indigenous vegetation
at our office buildings. Where possible, we
build base stations that blend into the natural
environment. Our approach to siting and
constructing new base stations includes
exploring co-sharing opportunities with
other TelCos.
Where our employees or suppliers face
natural risks such as bees and snakes, we
ensure they undergo the necessary training
to support them with their work without
negatively impacting biodiversity.
5.2 Supporting biodiversity protection
Technology can minimise the impact of human activity. We partner with
various organisations to protect biodiversity on land and at sea. This
support combines programme funding, connectivity and innovative
technology solutions in conservation efforts.
Vodacom South Africa and WWF South Africa collaborated on a solution
to safeguard marine mammals against fishing net entanglements. We are
piloting this solution in Saldanha Bay on South Africa’s West Coast, where
traditional fishing communities are struggling with overfishing, pollution
and climate change. The system uses infrared cameras and hydrophones
to alert mussel farmers to whales in the Saldanha Bay Aquaculture
Development Zone and activate an emergency response protocol in case
of an entanglement. The early warning system will also be used to gather
scientific data by recording the movement of marine life. It could help to
prevent ships from striking seals and dolphins. Once the pilot project in
Saldanha Bay is complete, the solution can be expanded to other coastal
areas and fisheries.
5 Supporting
biodiversity
1.
World Economic Forum, 2022.
Watch Vodacom and WWF partner on the Saldanha Bay Early
Warning System and other local initiatives
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 49
51. Tanzania’s Dodoma region is susceptible to extreme weather,
deforestation, desertification, biodiversity loss and crop
failure, putting people who live off the land at risk.
Between 2019 and 2022, the Vodacom Tanzania Foundation
partnered with the WWF, the Tanzania Forest Service and the
Tanzania government to raise climate change awareness and
plant trees in the region.
The Kijanisha Dodoma and Kijani Zaidi programmes have
planted more than 111 782 trees in Dodoma, Kisarawe and
Mkuranga. In FY2024 we conducted a monitoring and
evaluation process on the trees that have been planted. The
results show an 85% tree survival rate and 420 employment
opportunities created.
5. Supporting biodiversity continued
The Dunia app, developed by Kinshasa
Vodacom Digital Lab participants, drives
awareness of scarce and endangered wildlife
species and enables the public to report
poaching activity.
Read more about Dunia’s development here
In DRC we partnered with local company Africa Moto to
distribute clean cooking solutions that help minimise
deforestation and limit the use of charcoals and firewood.
These solutions transform lives by improving health,
protecting the environment, creating jobs, empowering
women and helping consumers save time and money.
Compared to charcoal and liquefied petroleum gas,
households can save up to 50% on their fuel bills. M-Pesa
aids the purchase of pellets to fuel stoves, and Vodacom
covers the access fees for households. Each clean cooking
stove consumes 91% less wood and reduces CO2
emissions
by four to five tonnes per year. We estimate that
distributing 1 750 stoves to a community will result in 630
extra healthy life years.
Watch Kijanisha Tanzania na Vodacom Tanzania Foundation
Supportingreforestationefforts
Owl and bird rescues
Owls and other bird species, including
black-shouldered kites, hadedas, crows and
eagles, often choose base stations as a nesting
spot. Potential risks arise when network
personnel are required to perform routine
maintenance and upgrades. These workers
may unknowingly disturb the nesting birds,
potentially harming either the birds or
themselves. Vodacom South Africa Foundation
donated R150 000 between 2021 and 2023 to
the Owl Rescue Centre, supporting 265
rescues. After the birds are safely removed,
they are taken to the centre for rehabilitation,
release and post-release monitoring for
successful adaptation back into the wild.
In Lesotho, we collaborate with the
Limomonane Trust to implement a
sustainable urban greening and
forest restoration project which
aims to create a green belt across
the most arid parts of the country.
In FY2024, 12 500 trees were
planted (FY2023: 20 000) over six
acres in Ha Ntsi, Masapong village
in peri-urban Maseru and in
Masowe suburb in Maseru, bringing
the total number of trees planted
since 2022 to 48 000.
Watch Limomonane Trust
green fest
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 50
52. Maintaining
trust
Recognising the disruptive nature of
digitalisation and its associated challenges,
we aim to be a trusted partner to our
customers, employees, suppliers and the
communities we serve in the digital society.
Our commitment to responsible business
practices supports our purpose and enables
sustainable value creation. We combine
financial performance with ethical conduct,
balancing the needs of people and the
planet with profit.
Acting lawfully, ethically, and with integrity is critical
to our long-term success, and forms the cornerstone
of how we do business. Transparency, honesty and
accountability guide all our business interactions. We
continue to foster a diverse and inclusive global
workforce that reflects the customers and societies
we serve. For our customers, we protect their data,
ensure that services are delivered securely and
responsibly, and provide guidance on how to navigate
new technology ethically. We promote a strong health
and safety culture, we aim to respect human rights
across our operations, and to proactively manage risks
in our supply chain. Upholding the highest industry
standards, we behave responsibly and transparently,
comply with legal and regulatory standards, and
ensure employees, business partners and suppliers
conduct themselves appropriately.
Our focus areas at a glance
Millions of people
communicate and share
information over our
networks, enabling
connection, innovation
and prosperity. It is critical
that customers trust us
with their data.
y Managing data privacy
y Managing cyber security
Zero
privacy fines and cyber
security critical incidents
(FY2023: zero)
96%
of employees
completed assigned privacy
training (FY2023: 95%)
97%
of employees completed
assigned security training
(FY2023: 88%)
Protecting
privacy and
data
3
We are committed to
developing a diverse and
inclusive workforce that
reflects the customers
and societies we serve.
y Fostering workplace
equality
y Developing employee
skills
y Living the Spirit of
Vodacom
670 402
hours of learning
(FY2023: 202 033)
Certified number one
Top Employer
in Africa by the
Top Employer Institute
38.2%
women in management and
senior leadership roles
(FY2023: 35.4%)
Developing
our employees
2
We are committed
to business integrity
wherever we operate.
y Promoting ethical
conduct
y Managing disciplinary
and grievance processes
y Complying with policies
and controls
96%
of employees completed
assigned code of conduct
training (FY2023: 94%)
97%
of employees completed
assigned anti-bribery and
corruption training
(FY2023: 92%)
Doing
business
ethically
1
We prioritise the
health and safety and
respect human rights of
our employees,
contractors, suppliers
and communities.
y Managing health
and safety
y Respecting human
rights
97%
of employees
completed assigned
health and safety training
(FY2023: 95%)
Established a
cross-functional human
rights advisory group
Protecting
people
4
We aim to ensure
integrity in our supply
chain processes by
identifying and managing
related risks.
y Managing our supply
chain
y Supporting local
economic
development
Worked with
24 932
suppliers and
spent over R90.0 billion
(FY2023: 25 661; R90.6 billion)
R8.8 billion
spent on enterprise
development and
preferential procurement
for small enterprises
(FY2023: R8.8 billion)
Promoting
responsible
and inclusive
procurement
5
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 51
53. 1.1 Promoting ethical conduct
Maintaining trust underpins our purpose and we value
and uphold ethical behaviour. We hold our employees,
business partners and suppliers to a high standard of
integrity. An ethics office leads our ethics programme.
Training and awareness support the programme’s
internal and external policies to ensure compliance
with best practice, laws and regulations.
1 Doing business
ethically
Our mature ethics programme enables a robust ethical
culture. It aligns with international best practice ethics
management framework and best practice according
to internal benchmarking and external assessment
through ESG ratings.
We remain focused on continuous improvement as
Vodacom navigates an increasingly digital world. We
have updated our ethics strategy and framework to
reflect our digital ambitions and shifting environment.
These pillars contribute to our overall objective
of conducting our operations responsibly,
transparently and ethically, and supporting the
delivery of our strategic objectives.
Digital ethics strategy:
y Business ethics y Technology ethics
y Data ethics y Digital ethics
Defining our code of conduct
Vodacom’s code of conduct and business principles outline the behaviours expected from
directors, executives, employees, contractors, business partners and suppliers in line with our
ethics strategy and framework. These are supported by policies and activities to ensure we
manage our responsibilities.
Read more about our
Vodacom code of conduct
Our code of conduct is well understood throughout
Vodacom with culture and ethics risk surveys indicating that
the programme is well entrenched. For example, 94% of
respondents to our Spirit Beat employee survey agree with
the statement “Our team lives by the code of conduct”1
.
Read more about supplier
ethics on Page 75
96%employees completed their assigned
code of conduct training by 31 March 2024
(FY2023: 94%).
Delivering training and raising awareness
Through training and awareness initiatives we ensure
understanding of and adherence to our internal codes,
policies and programmes that govern behaviour. Our
mandatory Doing What’s Right programme has been in
place since 2006 and is guided by global Vodafone and
local Vodacom policies. It is adapted to the local context
of our countries of operation. The programme empowers
employees and contractors through training modules
and ongoing awareness encompassing:
y Anti-bribery and corruption; • Privacy; and
y Code of conduct; • Security.
y Health and safety;
These modules are completed within an employee’s
induction, with refresher training every two years.
Training is available in English, Arabic in Egypt, French in
DRC, and Portuguese in Mozambique. To link
performance with impact, we incorporated mandatory
compliance training into the minimum performance
standards required which determines each employee’s
eligibility for a bonus.
Annual completion rates are influenced by the
implementation timing of new modules and new joiner
start dates.
Our OpCo ethics and compliance officers completed
Ethics Officer Certification through the Ethics Institute
of South Africa. Through this programme they acquired
the essential knowledge and skills to implement our
digital ethics strategy and effectively identify and manage
emerging risks.
Individual conduct
Bribery and improper payments;
conflicts of interest; gifts and
hospitality; travel and expenses;
managing our information and
documents; security;
information classification and
protection; our brand; and
intellectual property rights
Compliance with the law
Insider dealing; competition law;
anti-money-laundering; and
sanctions and trade controls
Health and safety
The Absolute Rules;
electromagnetic fields; and
drugs and alcohol
Financial integrity
Contracts and expenditure; and
responsible supply chain
Public policy and
communications
Speaking on behalf of
Vodacom; and social media
Privacy
Privacy principles and their
application
Employees
Diversity and inclusion; and
harassment and bullying
Communities and society
Local community engagement
Environment
Resource use; and
environmental impacts
1.
Our most recent survey recorded a participation rate of 94%.
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
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Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 52
54. We implement regular communication campaigns on high-risk activities such as acceptance of
gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, data privacy, cyber security, anti-money laundering,
competition law, and health and safety. Activations include webinars, leadership conversations,
direct emails and screen savers. We focus on promoting the Group’s ethics advice line and our
whistleblowing mechanism, Speak Up.
We continued to provide training to contractors, subsidiaries and business partners through the
hyperbook which is accessible to people who are not on the Vodacom domain.
795 employees and
people leaders attended
the Group Chairman’s
annual ethical leadership
event (FY2023: 1 000).
Providing ethics advice
Employees can proactively request advice through our ethics
advice line, an anonymous platform managed by Group Ethics.
Requests from employees and third parties include policy
interpretation, conflicts of interest, supplier due diligence,
individual conduct, review of customer codes of conduct, and
responses to ethics audits initiated by customers.
275 employees
and contractors sought
advice through the
ethics advice line
(FY2023: 319).
All who work for or on behalf of Vodacom have a
responsibility to report any behaviour at work that
may be unlawful or criminal, or that could amount to
abuse of our policies, systems or processes and,
therefore, a breach of our code of conduct.
Employees, contractors, suppliers, business partners
and the public can report suspected breaches of our
code of conduct anonymously through
Speak Up. Speak Up, operated by an independent
company – NAVEX Global – and is available in English,
French and Portuguese. This independence
safeguards whistleblower confidentiality. Our Speak
Up protection policy ensures that employees and
third parties are protected from retribution or reprisal.
Speak Up reports are matters lodged outside of
Vodacom’s internal process. Cases are reviewed by
Group HR and risk, supported by corporate security.
Each is formally and robustly investigated by a
qualified expert and is monitored to verify that
corrective action plans or remediations are
conducted. When determined necessary and
applicable, remedial action may involve
consequences for the individual and/or changes to
internal processes and procedures. Whistleblowers
can follow their case by contacting NAVEX Global and
providing their unique reference number.
Confidential reporting
Speak Up website
Click here to report an incident
1 Doing business ethically continued
South Africa
0800 728 625
Egypt
0800 006 0171
Tanzania
0800 12 0044
Speak Up hotline
DRC
1150
Mozambique
980 500 7465
Lesotho
8001 3460
Vodacom hosts an annual Group Chairman’s ethical
leadership event to embed ethical leadership at all
levels of the Group. The Chairman highlighted the
importance of leaders being visionary and ethical in the
digital age. The event featured Dr Urvashi Aneja, who
has published widely on the ethics and governance of
algorithmic decision-making systems. Vodacom
launched its digital ethics strategy at the event.
Topic
Speak Up
reports
Closed and
substantiated
Policy breach3
85 59%
Fraudulent activities 41 61%
Grievance4
35 9%
Customer issues 26 54%
Bribery and corruption 9 22%
Conflict of interest 9 11%
Data breach 8 38%
Harassment 7 14%
Other5
9 44%
1.
Our most recent survey recorded a participation rate of 94%.
2.
The notable increase is mainly attributable to the implementation
of a fraud detection tool in the second half, which seeks to identify
potential social engineering scams, and the inclusion of
Vodafone Egypt.
3. Policies violated include privacy and the code of conduct.
4. Grievances include unprofessionalism.
5.
Other includes accounting errors, cyber security, health and safety,
lost devices, threats against employees or assets and disruption of
services due to natural disaster.
6.
Updated on 19 June 2024.
The majority of our employees trust our Speak Up process,
as indicated by our Spirit Beat survey where 80% of
respondents reported that they believed appropriate action
would be taken 1
.
17 932(FY2023: 8 003 excluding Egypt) cases2,6
of alleged fraud or irregularities were investigated
These cases were received through:
y Direct reports from
customers
y Direct reports from
service providers
y Online reports
y Referrals from business
y External whistleblowing
229(FY2023: 213) reports were received through the
Speak Up line
Group ethics advice line: [email protected]
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 53
55. Media and advertising ethics
Our media policy promotes transparency and guides
our corporate communications. We ensure our
communications are accurate and concise and support
the Group’s core messages. Our media ethics policy
governs internal and external communication
procedures across platforms. Vodacom equips
authorised spokespeople within the Group with the
required media skills and exposure to comply with
the policy.
We are committed to transparent and ethical
communication regarding our products and services.
We advertise our products and services with integrity,
sensitivity towards society and respect for human
rights. This approach builds trust among customers,
business partners and our local communities.
We align with global advertising good practice
standards and support the World Federation of
Advertisers’ goal of driving transparency, consistency
and control in the placement of advertising. We have
associations with the Africa Marketing Confederation,
the Marketing Association of Southern Africa and the
South African Association for Communication and
Advertising. Vodacom subscribes to the Code of
Advertising Practice of the Advertising Regulatory
Board of South Africa. We work with the Global Alliance
for Responsible Media and the Greenhouse Gas
Protocol initiative on sustainable media practices,
specifically focusing on pioneering a carbon calculator
that measures advertising-related emissions.
Across the Group, brand standards and guidelines are
implemented to ensure we comply with these codes.
We train agencies and suppliers to ensure that best
practice is adopted across all OpCos.
1 Doing business ethically continued
Ensuring governance oversight
Our Board is ultimately responsible for the Group’s ethical culture
and management drives its implementation. The Group Company
Secretary is the head of ethics, supported by ethics officers at Group
and within each OpCo.
Vodacom ethics and compliance officers meet regularly to cultivate
a culture of ethical conduct while developing strategies to mitigate
and manage current and emerging ethical risks. They also meet with
business analysts and IT development teams to share best practice
and improve digital ethics systems.
The Group’s ethics office collaborates with Vodafone counterparts to
adopt best practices and tailor programmes to local operating
contexts, considering Vodacom’s regional operating context.
Social and Ethics Committee
Audit, Risk and Compliance
Committee
Board
oversight
All Executive Committee
members
CEO
Accountable Executive
Committee member
Read more about how we handle due diligence in our anti-bribery and corruption policy
1
2
3
Requiring directors and employees to
declare potential and actual conflicts
of interest.
Prohibiting directors and employees
from being involved in recommending,
deliberating, or making business
decisions when they are conflicted.
In cases where a direct conflict of
interest may occur the following steps
to manage such conflicts include:
y moving or reassigning the employee
to another unit,
y requesting the employee or director
to dispose of an asset, or
y standing down from a post.
Managing conflicts of interest
Training on managing conflicts of interest occurs through various channels across the Group.
We encourage employees to be transparent about potential and actual conflicts of interest.
Employees who have personal interests as defined above are required to declare them.
Automation, integration with the ethics advice line and ongoing education improved
accessibility and resulted in the improved quality and quantity of declarations. Employees can
now declare their interest through the Engage employee app. Tanzania piloted the
automated annual declaration of interest campaign which resulted in 48% of employees
declaring their interests. The campaign will be formally instituted and rolled out
in all OpCos in FY2025.
We received 583 declarations across the Group, mainly related to direct ownership of
businesses and interests related to family members and friends employed by Vodacom.
All declarations are monitored and reported by the Group Ethics office.
Our due diligence process for suppliers and business partners incorporates conflict of interest
considerations to ensure we identify potential risks upfront and manage them appropriately.
1
2
3
Having a personal financial interest in
a Vodacom business partner, supplier,
customer or competitor, which could
compromise loyalty to Vodacom,
adversely affect judgement regarding
day-to-day responsibilities, or cause
reputational damage.
Receiving any incentive directly from
a Vodacom supplier or other third
party unless such incentives were
approved under relevant Vodacom
policies.
Using non-public information
obtained by virtue of one’s position
for personal financial gain.
How we define conflicts
of interest
Mechanisms for handling
conflicts of interest
We are committed to using AI ethically and responsibly to
benefit customers, employees, and society. Our
AI governance framework, overseen by a dedicated steering
committee, reflects this commitment and is designed to ensure
that our AI systems are deployed in an ethical manner and align
with our purpose and obligations (including legal obligations).
Our AI steering committee is composed of representative from
technology, commercial operations, big data, ethics, human
rights, HR, compliance, privacy and regulatory. The committee
y Evaluates and approves AI use cases in alignment with our
strategy, ethical guidelines and regulations.
y Ensures technical infrastructure is secure and reliable.
y Develops and implements ethical guidelines for AI use.
y Drives organisational change and the necessary skills to
deploy AI safely and responsibly.
y Collaborates with external partners on best practices in AI
governance.
We won awards that recognise our commitment
to the highest ethical advertising standards and
codes, such as New Generation’s Most Innovative
use of Social and Digital Media Award, which
showcases creative advertising used to address
people with disabilities, and first prize in the
category “Brand that cares about my community”.
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 54
56. 89
external individuals
and contractors were subject
to criminal prosecution
(FY2023: 81)
631
reported dismissals of employees
and contractors1
(FY2023: 361 excluding Egypt)
19
grievances
were reported, of which seven
were substantiated
(FY2023: 14; 4)
1.2 Managing disciplinary
and grievance processes
The Group investigates code of conduct
breaches. Where substantiated, we take the
appropriate disciplinary measures and impose
sanctions. To avoid recurrent breaches and
mitigate this risk,
we take the following actions (among others):
y Limit users’ access rights to impacted systems
y Implement internal awareness campaigns and
control measures in affected business areas
y Educate dealers, service providers and vendors
1.3 Complying with policies
and controls
Vodacom complies with relevant laws, evolving regulations
and policies across our operations. Our compliance
management framework guides the implementation,
management and monitoring of internal controls against the
compliance programme. Our key focus remains on high-risk
compliance areas such as trade controls, economic
sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money
laundering and counter terrorist financing. Vodacom fosters
a compliance culture that aspires to uphold the spirit and
the letter of the law. Acts of deliberate non-compliance are
not tolerated.
Trade controls and economic sanctions
Geopolitical risks in the form of armed conflicts and
economic tensions have contributed to escalating economic
sanctions imposed on countries, entities and individuals, and
trade restrictions imposed on certain hardware and software.
Detailed rules, guidelines and internal control systems help
protect us from risk and ensure we comply with applicable
laws. Our economic sanctions and trade control programmes
are governed by our economic sanctions policy and trade
controls policy, which has been adopted and implemented
across our operations.
Key compliance controls include training and awareness
activities, screening third parties, incorporating economic
sanctions and trade control clauses in agreements, export
and import approvals, and regular monitoring of high-risk
transactions and relationships.
Vodacom Group compliance and our OpCos closely monitor
any new economic sanctions and trade control restrictions
to ensure the applicability and implementation of risk
mitigation plans.
Anti-money laundering and counter
terrorist financing
As part of our commitment to responsible
business conduct, we implemented robust
measures to combat money laundering, counter
terrorist financing, and the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction. We continually
enhance our anti-money laundering and counter
terrorist financing programme in line with our
risk-based approach and industry standards.
This programme is supported by well-defined
processes and controls, overseen by Group
compliance. Implementation is carried out by
dedicated money laundering reporting officers
and anti-money laundering teams within our
OpCos. The Group compliance team provides
governance and oversight, ensuring the
effectiveness and alignment of our efforts across
the OpCos in which we operate.
Our anti-money laundering teams stay abreast
of the latest regulatory developments. They
consistently implement additional policy
requirements and controls to support the
initiatives of regulatory bodies, addressing
any gaps highlighted by the Financial Action
Task Force.
This proactive approach ensures our anti-money
laundering efforts remain robust and effective,
enabling us to uphold our commitment to
responsible business conduct and combat
financial crime effectively across all operations.
We ran a financial services risk workshop for
representatives from our OpCos, during which
subject matter experts and professional bodies
shared insights and conducted training and
master classes on financial services risks.
1 Doing business ethically continued
1.
Updated on 19 June 2024.
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About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 55
57. Competition law
Our competition law policy commits us to conduct our
business honestly and ethically, to compete vigorously
but fairly, and to abide by all applicable competition
laws. Competition law teams in each OpCo guide
activities to ensure compliance with applicable
competition law requirements. Vodacom South
Africa’s formal pricing guidelines aim to ensure that
competition law requirements are considered during
pricing approval processes. Our competition law teams
investigate any allegations of anti-competitive
practices, and Vodafone conducts annual audits.
We upgraded our competition law e-learning module.
In the first phase of implementation, the module was
assigned to employees in South Africa and Egypt who
may be exposed to competition-related risks, with a
completion rate of 87%.
Legal compliance
Our compliance programme encompasses
compliance risk identification, assessment,
management, monitoring and regular reports to
stakeholders. This systematic approach aligns with
industry best practices and regulatory standards,
enhancing Vodacom’s ability to address compliance
risks. Our compliance programme follows the
Generally Accepted Compliance Practice framework, a
benchmark for best practices in compliance with
other global standards. The legal compliance
programme encompasses our telecommunications
and financial services businesses. It seeks to ensure
that Vodacom complies with all relevant laws, rules
and regulations that govern our operations using a
risk-based approach. Our electronic governance,
risk and compliance platform is used to manage
compliance risks, allowing for data analytics and new
technologies.
Ensuring governance oversight
1 Doing business ethically continued
Anti-bribery and corruption
Our employees, subsidiaries, suppliers, and
high-risk sales intermediaries undergo
regular training on the anti-bribery and
corruption policy to ensure an understanding
of the relevant policy obligations. Annually,
the compliance and ethics teams collaborate
on roadshows to promote awareness of both
the code of conduct and the anti-bribery
policy requirements.
On 1 December 2023, Vodacom
commemorated the International
Anti-Corruption Day with a hybrid
event at VodaWorld, focused on the
theme of uniting the world against
corruption. Thembekile Phylicia
Makhubele, Chief Director of the
Professional Ethics Office of the
Public Service Commission of South
Africa, served as the keynote speaker.
She addressed attendees on
transparency and accountability in
government and shared key success
factors and insights regarding
combating corruption in the public
sector.
97%
of employees completed their
assigned Doing What’s Right
anti-bribery and corruption training
by 31 March 2024 (FY2023: 92%)
Read more about our anti-bribery and corruption policy
Our anti-bribery and corruption policy, standards
and mandatory requirements apply to all our
operations. The policy sets the framework for our
programme in terms of our culture, describing
adequate and proportionate procedures to mitigate
our bribery and corruption risks. The programme
aligns with global standards and international and
local legislation across our operations.
The policy is reviewed annually and communicated
to all employees, contractors and business
ventures. Any policy breaches can lead to dismissal
or the termination of contract. We ensure our
anti-bribery and corruption programme is
implemented by periodically monitoring activities
and conducting risk assessment, policy compliance
reviews and internal audits.
Implementation is monitored regularly in all
OpCos as part of the annual Group assurance
process, which reviews key anti-corruption and
bribery controls. In DRC, Egypt, and Tanzania,
selected key controls were independently
evaluated to ensure their effective
implementation. A report is submitted annually
to the Group Risk and Compliance Committee
outlining the key outcomes of these assurance
activities and outlines the programme’s actions
for the coming year. The results show that the
anti-bribery and corruption programme has been
implemented well and that OpCos have robust
controls to mitigate bribery risks. Third party risk
management remains a key focus area, with
additional controls incorporated into the
programme and enhancements to the due
diligence processes for third parties and our
mergers and acquisitions activities.
Our CEO and Executive Committee oversee these efforts,
supported by the compliance and regulatory teams.
The Group compliance team provides governance and
oversight, ensuring the effectiveness and alignment of
our efforts across the OpCos in which we operate. This
structured approach ensures that our programme
remains robust and complies with regulatory
requirements, effectively safeguarding against risks.
Employees are responsible for complying with policies in
place.
All Executive Committee
members
CEO
Social and Ethics
Committee
Audit, Risk and
Compliance Committee
Accountable Executive
Committee member
Board
oversight
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 56
58. 2.1 Fostering workplace equality
Vodacom strives for an inclusive, diverse and gender-balanced culture that
celebrates differences, institutionalises support for LGBTQIA+ people,
maintains an ethnically diverse environment and ensures accessibility for
employees with disabilities.
We have a zero-tolerance approach to harassment, discrimination, and
abuse. The Doing What’s Right training is mandatory for all employees,
including executives and senior managers. It also covers diversity and
inclusion, harassment, and bullying.
FY2024 FY2023 FY2022
Headcount (number) 17 265 17 898 11 309
Permanent employees 13 716 13 605 8 155
Contractors 3 549 4 293 3 154
Number of countries in which
we operate
6 6 5
Employee nationalities 35 34 31
Employees and contractors
across the Group (%)
South Africa 36 34 57
Egypt 41 40 -
Tanzania 4 3 5
DRC 5 6 10
Mozambique 11 14 24
Lesotho 3 3 3
Employee experience (%)
Employee engagement index 82 75 77
Alignment to purpose 93 80 76
Voluntary turnover rate 7.2 10.5 6.0
Involuntary turnover rate 2.2 3.1 0.9
Policies, initiatives and targets
Our commitment to diversity and
inclusion is reflected across our policies
and principles, such as our code of
conduct and fair pay principles. Our
diversity, equality and inclusion strategy
is centred on belonging and aligns with
local laws that empower previously
marginalised groups. Achieving our
diversity targets depends on attracting,
engaging and retaining diverse talent and
skills. Employee networks work to
reinforce our inclusive initiatives, such as
hybrid and flexible working, parental
leave, mental health support, targeted
learning and development programmes,
and allyship training. Programmes are
designed to help employees through all
life stages and challenge societal norms
to enable authenticity and inclusivity at
work. We promote a non-discriminatory
work environment based on the
principles of equality to ensure that all
employees, including those with HIV/
Aids, TB or any other sensitive physical or
mental medical conditions, are not
discriminated against and are protected
from victimisation.
Gender
We work to ensure gender diversity when resourcing for senior leadership roles.
Our leadership team is accountable for maintaining diversity and inclusion in their
teams. We embed women in management targets in our long-term incentive plans.
Women representation FY2024 FY2023 FY2022
Board 33.3 41.7 33.3
Executive Committee 23.1 16.7 20.0
Management and senior leadership
roles (F Band +)1 38.2 35.4 36.1
External hires 36.7 38.4 40.6
Internal promotions 40.7 38.7 44.4
Graduates 56.3 56.4 61.1
Overall workforce 36.9 36.6 38.9
1.
Percentage of women in our 917 (FY2023: 917; FY2022: 872) management and leadership roles.
We believe that the well-being of our
employees contributes directly to our ability
to fulfil our purpose of connecting for a better
future. By enhancing our employee value
proposition through empathetic and inclusive
policies and practices, we are cultivating a
workplace culture where people feel
empowered to thrive and positively impact their
careers and the realisation of this purpose.
2 Developing
our employees
We are aiming for
40% women
in management
roles by 2025
We are aiming for
gender
parity
in senior leadership
by 2030
Employee statistics are calculated on permanent employees. These gender statistics differ to those
on page 18 which are in accordance with B-BBEE.
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59. Our maternity leave policy provides four to six months of fully paid leave
and the parental leave policy provides 16 weeks of fully paid leave with
flexibility in how the leave is taken. These policies are open to all employees
in five of our OpCos regardless of gender, sexual orientation, length of
service, and whether they are having a baby or welcoming a new child
through surrogacy or adoption. In Egypt maternity and paternity leave is
provided to birthing parents in accordance with relevant laws and Vodafone
Egypt policies. We provide compassionate leave to support immediate
family members during emergencies and difficult times as part of the
C.A.R.E. (Compassion, Acceptance, Respect, Empathy) initiative.
Maternity and parental leave policies
Read more about C.A.R.E on Page 70
Employees taking maternity and parental leave
210 women (85% of whom took four or more months’ leave)
479men (26% of whom took four or more weeks’ leave)
Employees remaining with Vodacom for 12 months after their
return from parental leave
99%
We have introduced mother’s rooms at various corporate office locations in Tanzania,
which allow new mothers returning to work to breastfeed in a private and child-friendly
environment.
Returnship in Egypt is a six-month paid internship for women who have been
unemployed for two to five years due to marriage, childcare, or other reasons.
Vodafone Egypt welcomed six female returners in FY2024 (FY2023: seven).
Domestic violence
We have mechanisms in place to protect employees a from incidents of violence,
harassment, bullying, threatening behaviour, criminal conduct or intimidation that has
occurred inside or outside of the workplace. When such incidents are brought to
Vodacom’s attention, we conduct investigations that may result in disciplinary action
being taken against the employee, where this is warranted and appropriate. Our
domestic violence policy sets out comprehensive workplace resources, security and
other measures for employees at risk of experiencing and recovering from domestic
violence and abuse. In South Africa, our GBV policy reinforces our commitment
against violence and harassment against individuals based on their gender identity.
Physical and digital accessibility
LEAP is Egypt’s first two-year graduate programme in the private sector tailored for
people with disabilities.
10 people with disabilities were recruited through the VodAbility Programme in
Mozambique. Our partnership with the Forum of Disabled Persons Organizations
aims to extend our training efforts and make workplaces more accessible.
Demarcated parking for employees living with disabilities and expectant mothers
has been implemented at our offices.
Vodafone Egypt received the Gold award for
Excellence in Inclusion, Equity, and
Diversity at the Society of Human Resources
Management’s first Middle East conference in
recognition of our efforts in the diversity and
inclusion space, such as the Egyptian Gender
Alliance, the Returnship Programme, and the
She Works Wonders Programme.
We were a catalytic in the creation of the
EGA, a national coalition to enhance the
social and economic status of women in
Egypt. An EGA speed mentoring event was
held to allow future female leaders to
connect and receive guidance from
influential mentors.
We hosted a successful All-Africa Townhall
session during International Women’s Week
with a specific focus on financial inclusion for
women. Throughout the week, OpCos
participated in pop-up stalls, torch
ceremonies and other online sessions.
Our Group-wide Women’s Network Forum,
sponsored by our Chief Financial Officer,
champions gender equality within Vodacom,
and forms a platform where women can
mobilise, connect, network and be
empowered.
We launched a Men’s Forum in Tanzania as a
space for male colleagues to connect and
share experiences. This initiative is driven by
our male colleagues, with an Executive
Committee sponsor and support from HR.
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60. Race, ethnicity and cultural heritage
We continuously improve our workforce capability by discussing race,
ethnicity and cultural heritage. #CountMeIn encourages employees to
voluntarily disclose their diversity demographics, including race,
ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and caregiving
responsibilities, in line with local privacy and legal requirements. Our top
management positions have the highest self-declaration rate at 54%,
enabling transparency of our diversity at this level.
Embedding inclusion
We actively support employee networks, including the Disability
Employee Forum, the LGBTQIA+ Forum, the Employee Network Forum,
the Women’s Network Forum, the Men’s Forum and the Youth Council.
We engage with employees and raise awareness on why inclusion matters
through multiple platforms such as communication campaigns, summits,
panels, and expos on days of commemoration such as women’s day,
cultural diversity day and Africa Day. We will establish further networks for
men and employees who are caregivers for children and elderly people.
To support LGBTQIA+ employees, we launched a guide for managers
and employees to support their colleagues coming out in the workplace.
We also updated our LGBTQIA+ travel toolkit, advising on safe travel. We
launched pronoun functionality in Microsoft Teams and Outlook on the
web, allowing employees to add their pronouns to their profiles easily.
2.2 Developing employee skills
We focus on developing diverse talent for the future and building future skills.
Our transformation into a new-generation connectivity and digital services
provider requires new skills and capabilities, such as software engineering,
automation and data analysis.
2 Developing our employees continued
Build skills for the future
Increase in hours of
learning since FY2023
332%
Learning
hours
670 402
Average
of learning hours
55 867
per month
2 Developing our employees continued
We launched the Technical Career Path framework to nurture
engineering and tech talent across the Group, with 173
employees in the pipeline.
We partnered with Gartner to develop a Fintech Talent Hub
which aims to cultivate essential skills and talent in the fintech
industry across Africa. Over 700 employees across Africa
participated in the programme.
Employees are supported in learning on the job by taking part
in work shadowing or by taking on extra projects, and time is
allocated for these activities.
Delegates trained to be citizen developers 294
Active citizen developers 180
Citizen developers to be onboarded 114
Hours saved through bots 30 716
Money saved through bots R1 555 019
Revenue generated through bots R1 761 756
Customer care calls prevented through bots 2 665
The #1MoreSkill programme aims to increase certification
and reskill employees across prioritised areas. As part of
#1MoreSkill the Citizen Developer Programme upskills
employees with little to no coding experience who build
applications with IT-approved technology.
Through #1MoreSkill we achieved our target of 150 data
scientists upskilled across the Group by FY2024. The
robotic process automation centre of excellence team is
responsible for localising learning content on Grow with
Vodacom, which includes a skills transformation component.
1
Spend on skills development, when expressed in South African rands, decreased due to
currency devaluation in Egypt and increased number of non-executive employees placed
in programmes eligible for skills development claims according to the B-BBEE sector
codes in South Africa.
Total spend on skills
development
R485 million
(FY2023: R600 million)1
Average spend on skills
development
R28 091
per employee
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61. Managing talent and succession planning
Our talent and succession pools for our most senior roles and
female talent are reviewed and updated through an annual talent
review and considered by the Board. 35% of identified successors
at senior level are female. Exposure to various leadership
committees and boards is offered as a development initiative to
identified successors.
Our newly launched Ignite programme, previously known as
our CEO Future Leaders programme, aims to build a robust talent
pipeline of potential CEOs within our organisation. Eight
candidates completed the eight-month programme in FY2024.
Developing leaders
Development programmes including Women in Leadership, the
Vodacom Accelerated Programme and YuGrow have trained
160 women across the Group since 2021 of which 30 have been
promoted. Our signature Female Leadership programme, which
was relaunched in 2023, is geared towards creating an industry
network of female professionals with scarce and critical skills,
who are offered employment as opportunities arise. The
six-month programme reinforces learning through virtual
learning, experiential immersions and reflection. Following the
programme’s success in South Africa in FY2024, we aim to scale
the programme across all OpCos.
We launched a continental cross-market mentoring programme
to partner Group Executive Committee members with E-Band
(middle management) top talent. Executive Committee members
mentor employees outside their function and provide more
visibility for identified top talent. This talent group also completed
Korn Ferry psychometric assessments, followed by an in-depth
feedback and development discussion, to build individual
development plans, including coaching through the Ezra platform.
Employees who received coaching
71senior executives and
68middle management employees
109junior employees
Developing tomorrow’s talent
Our annual Discover Graduate programme
offers a well-rounded experience that exposes
participants to various company functions.
Participants are chosen each year to enter roles
within Vodacom. We continue to leverage
partnerships with leading universities across
the continent to recruit high-calibre graduates
to join our workforce.
Vodacom Youth Council
Youth Council members are encouraged to
research and explore disruptive ideas in the digital
economy. Young members can shadow Executive
Committee members, exposing them to
decision-making and strategy formulation and
implementation at the highest level. In FY2023
we expanded the youth council to three other
OpCos, bringing our total to five.
UNGC SDG Innovation Accelerator
for young professionals
A Vodacom team participated in the nine-month
UNGC SDG Innovation Accelerator programme,
which empowers young talent to collaborate and
innovate to achieve the SDGs. Vodacom hosted
the final camp as a “dragon’s den”, in which teams
from various companies pitched their SDG
innovations. The majority female, cross-functional
Vodacom team presented a financial inclusion
innovation to peers and Vodacom colleagues,
who will support the project.
126
Discover Graduates, of whom 711
are women, in calendar year 2023
(2022: 101 and 57)1
2.3 Living the Spirit of Vodacom
The Spirit of Vodacom outlines the beliefs we stand for and the key behaviours that help us realise
our strategy and purpose. The Spirit of Vodacom underpins the successful and sustainable delivery
of our objectives and empowering our people to grow and innovate to meet our customers’ needs.
Driving innovation
The annual Group-wide Hackathon is Vodacom’s
premium innovation challenge. It encourages
employees to ideate, collaborate, learn and
demonstrate their innovations to a top management
“dragons” panel. The programme aims to empower
employees to solve specific business problems that
result in revenue growth, cost savings, efficiency and
customer service improvements. The Hackathon
embeds an innovation culture across all OpCos,
fosters collaboration, builds transversal and
technical skills, and enables participants to access
and explore existing and emerging IT resources. The
ideas implemented through the Hackathon allow
Vodacom to operate efficiently, protect its
infrastructure, and simplify processes for customers.
Watch The Hackathon
2 Developing our employees continued
Ideas submitted across
the OpCos
570
Ideas selected for
Hackathon participation
114
Team participants 444
Masterclasses delivered 31
Stream views 5 420
1.
2022 restated to include all OpCos.
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62. Creating future ways of working
Our remote ways of working policy contains the standards and
principles that enable a flexible working framework and offer benefits
for remote and office-based work. It includes an expected role-
dependent average of three days per week working from the office and
the option to work from another country for up to 20 days. Flexitime is
permitted, subject to operational requirements and country-specific
rules. Where appropriate, our remote-hiring policy allows us to source
remote skills. We review flexible working policies regularly.
Delivering a digital experience
Grow with Vodacom, an integrated talent acquisition, skills and
learning platform that enhances the employee experience while giving
employees greater ownership of their learning and career
development pathways. Employees build unique skills profiles for
personalised learning and career recommendations, use technology to
develop personalised learning paths, and create goals based on
discussions with line managers and a career planner. The platform
enables:
y Increased diversity through tailoring job recommendations for
candidates and unbiasing the application process with anonymous
candidate recommendations;
y Improved recruiter efficiency through simplified navigation between
tools and candidate recommendations based on required skills.
y A simplified and faster application process through personalised
skills-based job recommendations and a 90% reduction in
mandatory questions.
Hosting employee forums
We respect freedom of association and recognise the rights of
employees to join trade unions and engage in collective bargaining
under local law. At employee forums, elected representatives
communicate their colleagues’ views. We hosted our annual
Africa-wide employee forum, where OpCo representatives had the
opportunity to meet Vodafone Group Plc Board’s workforce
engagement lead. Key discussion topics from the meetings included
diversity and inclusion strategy, talent and skills development, fair pay
and business support.
2 Developing our employees continued
IR Read more about how we empower employees in the integrated report
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63. Technology is core to Vodacom’s business.
We focus on managing rapid technological
advances, regulations associated with using
data, and potential disruptions, opportunities
and risks. Millions of people communicate
and share information over our networks,
enabling them to connect, innovate and
prosper. Customers trust us with their data,
and maintaining this trust is critical.
We are committed to our customers’ privacy
beyond legal compliance. Our privacy and
security programmes create a strong culture
and practice of protecting the privacy,
security and confidentiality of customers’
data. We ensure that personal data is used
responsibly and ethically. Data protection and
information security are critical disciplines
throughout the life cycle of data.
Vodacom’s enterprise risk management
framework includes cyber security and data
protection.
3.1 Managing
data privacy
We align with the global Vodafone
privacy management policy, which is
based on the European Union General
Data Protection Regulation. The
policy establishes a framework for
incorporating local data protection
and privacy laws and sets a baseline
for countries without equivalent legal
requirements. Each OpCo publishes
required privacy statements/notices,
which align with the disclosure and
transparency requirements described
in their country’s respective data
protection laws or according to their
local privacy management policy.
3 Protecting privacy and data
Our data privacy programme ensures we meet the privacy laws and regulations
in all our OpCos such as the Protection of Personal Information Act
requirements in South Africa. We respect and protect the right to privacy,
including our customers’ lawful rights to hold and express opinions and share
information and ideas without interference. At the same time, as a licensed
national operator, we comply with lawful orders from national authorities and
the judiciary, including law enforcement. Recognising that privacy is a human
right, these obligations are balanced in a manner that safeguards customers’
rights while meeting the legal and regulatory duties.
Read more about our approach to data privacy
Data privacy domains
Programme management
Baseline and risk
management
Permissions and
transparency
Individual rights
Security and privacy by
design and assurance
Communication training
and awareness
Security for privacy and
incident management
Organisational privacy
impact assessment
Processor obligations
Supplier management
External participation
Data management
Understanding privacy risks
Data protection is a principal risk in
the Group’s enterprise risk
management framework. As data
volumes grow and regulatory and
customer scrutiny increases, we
proactively identify, assess and
mitigate privacy risks we face through
our privacy policies and programmes.
To help us identify and manage
evolving risks, we evaluate our
business strategy, new technologies,
products and services, and
government policies and regulations.
Privacy risks include:
Collection of personal data
without permissions where
required.
1 Collection
Use of personal data for further
processing purposes. Data
retention or poor data quality.
2 Access and use
Unauthorised disclosure of
personal data.
3 Sharing
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64. Uses of customer data
Operating soundly
An experienced privacy specialist team is dedicated to ensuring
compliance with data protection laws and our policies in the
countries where we operate. We manage privacy risks across
the data life cycle, and teams across Vodacom ensure
end-to-end coverage. Dedicated security teams ensure
appropriate technical and organisational information security
measures are applied to protect personal data against
unauthorised access, disclosure, loss or use during transit and
at rest.
All products, services and processes are subject to privacy
impact assessments as part of their development and
throughout their life cycle. Privacy notices and policies are
available in English and local languages across our OpCos. Our
privacy impact assessment methodology ensures that children
and vulnerable groups are identified and relevant controls are
implemented for specific groups. This includes child-friendly
privacy notices that use appropriate language and ensure
parental consent is obtained when required.
We maintain personal data processing records, supplier privacy
compliance, data breach management and individual rights
processes, internal and international data transfer compliance
frameworks, and training and awareness programmes.
In our supply chain, privacy and security requirements are key
to our supplier management processes. All suppliers undergo a
thorough onboarding process to verify their adherence to
these requirements, appropriate data protection agreements
are agreed upon. Suppliers are subject to continuous
monitoring.
Our teams monitor and contribute to regulatory and industry
developments and work to build and maintain relationships
with local data protection authorities and other key
stakeholders.
Our privacy control frameworks are subject to continuous
risk-based improvements.
The effectiveness of control implementation is subject to
quarterly reporting and annual evidence-based testing by the
privacy teams and internal audit. All OpCos conduct an annual
evidence-based self-assessment exercise overseen by
Vodafone.
3 Protecting privacy and data continued
Adhering to privacy principles
Our privacy programme governs how we collect, use and manage our
customers’ personal data to ensure we respect the confidentiality of their
communications and their choices regarding the use of their data.
Our privacy programme principles
Using customer data responsibly
We want our customers to get the most out of our products and services,
and their personal data enables this. We are committed to protecting our
customers’ data and only using it for a stated and specific purpose. We are
transparent about which data we collect, why we collect it and customers’
related rights and choices. As such, each OpCo publishes a privacy
statement with this information. Our privacy notices include details relating
to the processing of personal data.
Customers can exercise their right to access their personal data and request
that it be deleted, corrected, or ported where relevant. Our customer
privacy statements and other customer-facing documents provide
information on how customers can exercise their rights and how to raise
complaints or contact the appropriate data protection authority. Our
privacy notices are designed to be user friendly, with accessible language
without unnecessary legal jargon. Call centre agents are also trained to
assist customers with understanding important aspects of privacy rights.
Privacy notices and processes are available in English and local languages
across our OpCos. Frontline retail and customer support employees are
trained to respond to customer requests.
How we operate
y Accountability
y Fairness and lawfulness
y Openness and honesty
y Choice and access
How we manage and
protect data
y Responsible data
management
y Security safeguards
How we design our
products and services
y Privacy by design
How we make decisions
y Balance
Provision of services
We process customers’ personal data to provide them with the products and
services they have requested, to fulfil our contractual and legal obligations, and
to provide customer care. We must process communications metadata regarding
calls, texts and mobile data usage to provide our services and invoice correctly.
Quality, development and security of services
We monitor the quality and use of our connectivity and other services so that we
can improve and optimise them. This information helps detect and prevent fraud
and secure our networks and services. We do not sell data tied to specific
individuals to third parties.
Marketing
In line with applicable laws that regulate marketing activities, we use data to
market our products and services and provide accurate recommendations.
Permissions
Our multi-channel permission management platforms, deployed across all
channels, allow customers to control how we use their data for marketing and
other purposes. For example, customers can consent to us using their
communications metadata for marketing or receiving third party marketing
messages. Customers can also opt in or out of location-based services. All
permissions can be revoked, and choices can be changed at any time.
Rights of individuals
Our businesses provide customers with access to their data through online and
physical channels. These channels can be used to request the deletion of data
that is no longer necessary or to correct outdated or incorrect data. Our
customer privacy statements and other documents provide information on how
these rights can be exercised and how to raise complaints. Our frontline
employees are trained to respond to customer requests.
Data sharing
When external suppliers and service providers process data on our behalf, they
are subject to security and privacy due diligence processes, and appropriate data
processing agreements govern their activities. We do not share customers’
personal data unless there is a lawful basis set out in the relevant local market
data protection law or the local market privacy management policy.
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65. A local Executive Committee member oversees our privacy programme’s
local implementation. Each OpCo has a dedicated privacy officer, legal
counsel and other privacy specialists.
The privacy officer reports to the accountable OpCo executive and
manages and oversees the privacy programmes daily. They provide
regular status reports to the Group Privacy Officer who reports to the
Chief Officer: Legal Risk and Compliance. The status reports and updates
are also provided to the Group Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
Employees are responsible for protecting personal data, and OpCos are
accountable for compliance.
The Vodacom privacy office approves new standards and guidelines and
monitors the implementation of global privacy plans. OpCos maintain
privacy steering committees, combining privacy and security teams and
senior management from relevant business functions.
Control implementation is reviewed by OpCo
managing directors, the Group Risk and Compliance
Committee and the Vodafone Group Plc Audit and
Risk Committee. The outcomes of Group-wide annual
internal audits are presented to the Vodacom Group
Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
The findings are subject to remedial actions by the
responsible control operator, and completion of these
projects is monitored by the CEO and the Group Audit,
Risk and Compliance Committee.
In addition to introducing updates to our privacy
controls, we require employees, and contractors where
possible, to complete Doing What’s Right privacy
training within six weeks of joining and at least every
two years. Our targeted training for high-risk roles is
aimed at teams with a key role in personal data
processing. Completion rates at year end are influenced
by the implementation timing of new modules and new
joiner start dates.
96%
of employees completed their assigned
Doing What’s Right privacy training by
31 March 2024 (FY2023: 95%).
Ensuring governance oversight
Group Audit, Risk and
Compliance Committee
Board oversight
Accountable Executive
Committee members
Monitoring privacy incidents
We have a strong culture of data privacy. Our assurance and monitoring
activities are designed to identify potential issues before they
materialise. We have internal teams, mechanisms and systems that
enable our customers to lodge complaints with us and regulatory
authorities if they are unsatisfied with the resolution of their complaints.
Zero
privacy fines
(FY2023: Zero)
Eight
customer privacy complaints
received from regulators
(FY2023: 15)1
Read more about how we respond to a data breach on Page 66
3 Protecting privacy and data continued
CEO
All Executive Committee members
1.
Complaints received were only from South Africa.
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66. Our role is to enable connectivity in society. As a provider of critical national
infrastructure, connectivity, and financial services that millions of customers rely on,
we prioritise cyber and information security across everything we do. Our customers
use Vodacom products and services because of our next-generation capabilities and
because they trust that their information is safe.
Cyber attacks remain a continuous threat. The telecommunications, technology, and
financial services industries are faced with unique risks as we provide connectivity
services and handle real-time financial transactions.
We expect a continued increase in security regulation. Where possible, we engage
directly with governments and industry partners to promote proportionate, risk-based
and cost-effective solutions to security threats.
Our approach to managing cyber risk and protecting our customers from cyber threats
leverages Vodafone’s global scale combined with local threat intelligence. It is based
on international best practice and understanding the threat landscape.
We refresh our cyber security strategy annually and redevelop it every five years based
on internal and external environment changes.
3.2 Managing cyber security
3 Protecting privacy and data continued
Collaborate widely to encourage
standardisation, share intelligence, and
engage on regulation
Maintain and improve our security controls
and procedures beyond the existing cyber
security baseline
Cyber security strategy
Control
evolution
Engage our people, nurture our engineering
community and carry out Group-wide cyber
security training and simulations
Spirit of
Vodacom and
cyber culture
Security
for society
Identifying vulnerabilities and risks
We understand that if cyber security is not managed effectively,
there could be major customer, financial, reputational or
regulatory impacts. Risk and threat management are
fundamental to maintaining the security of our services across
every aspect of our business. Cyber security risk is a principal
risk with Vodacom’s enterprise risk frameworks. Each principal
risk owner produces a formal line-of-sight document twice a
year, including second and third-line assurance.
We undertake regular and rigorous analysis of our risks using
external data sources and our internal key risk indicators. This
analysis extends to our third parties and partners.
IR Read more about our principal risks on Page 40 to 45 of our
integrated report
To help us identify and manage emerging and evolving threats, we
evaluate and challenge our business strategy, new technologies,
government policies and regulations, and employees to
continuously improve our cyber posture.
We regularly review our highest security risks and develop strategies
and policies to detect, prevent and respond to them. Our focus is on
minimising the risk of cyber incidents that affect our networks,
customers, services, or shareholders.
Our threat intelligence team uses industry and external analysis to
help shape our controls and procedures and drive our actions. As
part of our risk framework, we gather intelligence on threats, and
proactively respond to threat intelligence before it causes an
incident. User awareness and good security hygiene, as required by
Vodacom’s cyber code, are critical to managing these threats and are
embedded across everything we do.
When a specific vendor or new high-impact vulnerability is reported,
the threat intelligence team coordinates action to remediate it using
our internal cyber security action notice process. We issued 214 of
these notices in FY2024 which allowed us to proactively respond to
attacks happening globally before they impact Vodacom. When we
identify systemic near-term threats, we respond with threat action
groups who take fast mitigating action to avoid incident or risk
impact, similar to how we respond to incidents.
60% increase in the pace of response to threat
intelligence to prevent incidents in the last year across
all OpCos
Three main categories of risk:
1 External
Attackers and criminals targeting
our systems, networks or people to
conduct malicious attacks
3 Supply chain
A supplier is breached or used as
a conduit to gain access to our
systems, data or people
2 Insider
Accidental leakage of information or
malicious misuse of access privileges
by our employees
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 65
67. Implementing controls
Our controls prevent, detect or respond to risks. Most risks
and threats are prevented or contained before they cause harm.
A small minority will need recovery actions.
We use a defined mandatory framework called the cyber security
baseline (CSB) across all our OpCos. Our CSB framework is based on
international standards and includes defined success criteria and
metrics, which are reported and tracked at all organisational levels,
including executive management and the Board.
CSB covers five Group-wide domains: cyber defence, security
hygiene, identity and access management, network controls,
and information protection.
Successfully rolled out 67new control improvement
projects, which were validated to reduce risk
People
security
Network
security
Product and
services
Information
protection
Security, hygiene
and essentials
Supplier and
third party
Identity and access
management
Software
development
Cyber security baseline
We believe in the continuous improvement of our control
landscape. In FY2024, we conducted 67 targeted
programmes to enhance and bring new capabilities
online to further protect us from harm.
A dedicated assurance team reviews and validates the
effectiveness of our security controls, and our control
environment is subject to regular internal audits. Mobile
network security is independently tested and
benchmarked annually.
We partner with expert independent teams to regularly
validate the security posture of our environments. In
FY2024 we undertook 2 500 person days of independent
security penetration tests.
We incorporated the National Institute of Standards
and Technology Cybersecurity Framework controls within
our baseline cyber security adaptive risk model. This
model applies inputs from threat intelligence, Vodacom
strategic imperatives, regulatory requirements, and
current control deployments, which ensures that controls
are continually assessed and optimised.
We monitor control effectiveness within Vodacom
and oversee and improve the cyber security of our
suppliers and third parties. Controls and procedures are
embedded in the supplier life cycle to set requirements,
assess risks and monitor security performance. At
supplier onboarding, minimum security requirements are
written into contracts and we determine suppliers’
inherent risk. We assess their controls and procedures to
understand the residual risk. Automated external posture
assessments are undertaken for critical vendor services.
We ensure any security incidents are tracked and
managed across our suppliers.
Assessing new technologies
We adopt new technologies to serve our customers better and improve
operational efficiency. We assess all new business ventures and new or enhanced
technologies from a cyber security perspective. Our process is secure by design,
which ensures safe systems and applications, evaluates suppliers’ hardware and
software, models threats and understands risks before designing, implementing
and testing necessary security controls.
Read more about our AI steering committee on Page 54
Mobile networks
Every new mobile network generation brings increased performance and
capability, along with new opportunities in security. We are updating security
standards as we deploy 5G core networks alongside our 5G radio networks.
We independently test radio network security and identify and mitigate
security risks by following our secure-by-design process. We participate in the
O-RAN Alliance and security working groups to standardise and strengthen
the industry approach to security.
Quantum computing
Our strategy is to prepare for the future availability of quantum computing at
scale and mitigate its cryptographic risks. We are collaborating with IBM on
our Quantum Safe programme and through an industry-wide task force that
addresses risks specific to the telecommunications sector. Over the past year,
we have been working on tooling and processes to support our programme.
Key processes include tailoring risk assessments, defining supplier
requirements and developing the capability to update our cryptography if
new threats emerge.
AI
We take the responsible and secure use of AI seriously. Our AI steering
committee agrees on policy, mitigates threats, and identifies and selects use
cases for implementation.
We limit access to specific public large language models to reduce the risk of
misuse. We developed training and awareness programmes and updated our
guidance and policies to employees to clarify which data must not be shared
in a public AI model.
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 66
68. Internal audit
Techand business
A
ssess
risk
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ber defence Cyber preven
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Risk and
threat-based
security
Operating soundly
Vodacom cyber security is part of the Vodafone cyber
security operating model, which is primarily based on the
industry security standards ISO/IEC 27001 published by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the
National Institute of Standards and Technology. As a member
of Vodafone, Vodacom benefits from global collaboration,
technology sharing, deep expertise, and greater visibility of
emerging threats. We embed preventive and protective
controls across our technology, throughout the business and
across all our OpCos. We work with third party experts and
consultants to maintain specialist skills and follow leading
practice.
We maintain independently audited information security
certifications, including ISO 27001, for key environments in
South Africa, Egypt and Tanzania. We plan to expand our
certification to more OpCos in FY2025. We perform regular
internal and external audits, with findings tracked to
resolution or acceptable mitigation. OpCos comply with
national information security requirements where applicable.
Cyber security function
Team Core responsibilities
Governance,
risk and control
y Oversee cyber risk management across the Group
y Define and ensure the adoption of policies and
controls and measure control effectiveness
y Identify and minimise supplier cyber risk
Strategy and
secure by design
y Define cyber strategy in line with technology function
and Group strategies
y Ensure products, services and internal systems are
secure by design
Cyber prevent
y Engineer, deliver and operate security platforms and
controls, driving continuous improvement
Cyber defence
y Perform threat intelligence and security testing, and
detect events and attacks through 24/7 monitoring
y Respond to incidents to minimise the impact of
security events on our business and customers
OpCo teams
y Manage and embed cyber security in our OpCos,
including meeting local cyber regulatory and
compliance requirements
3 Protecting privacy and data continued
Training and awareness
Every employee is responsible for cyber security and
must follow our cyber code, be sensitive to threats
and report suspicious activity. Embedded in our code
of conduct, our cyber code aligns with cyber security
best practice. It is the cornerstone of how we expect
all employees to behave.
Cyber security awareness and training are delivered
digitally through our awareness system, internal social
media platforms, videos and webinars. We run phishing
simulations to raise employee awareness. Our cyber
awareness and training programme incorporates
emerging threats such as AI, deepfake media, securing
IoT and more.
Cyber security is included within our mandatory Doing
What’s Right programme, and we launched a cyber
security training manual for contractors. Training on
cyber security is also included in our induction process
for new employees. We track completion rates to
ensure every employee completes mandatory training
when assigned and track susceptibility to social
engineering attacks with additional targeted training.
Employees can study recognised information
security and cyber certifications aligned with their
learning plans on our company learning platform.
Read more about our cyber code within our
code of conduct
97% of employees completed their
assigned Doing What’s Right security training by
31 March 2024 (FY2023: 95%)
5% maximum rate for user susceptibility to
phishing emails
80% of employees and contractors targeted
during each cyber awareness and training initiative
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About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 67
69. The Board Audit and Risk Committee oversees cyber
security across all Vodacom OpCos and receives
quarterly updates on progress. Executive Management
including Group and OpCo CEOs discuss cyber security
progress at Executive Committee Risk Management
Committee quarterly. The Managing Executive: Cyber
Security manages and oversees the cyber security
programme’s daily operations and reports to the Chief
Technology Officer who is accountable for cyber
security. Cyber security leads are part of their local
management teams and are responsible for their OpCo’s
cyber agenda.
Key risk indicators for our most important controls are
reported to senior management and the Executive
Committee quarterly. Reporting provides a granular view
of progress and risk reduction, and includes details on
the threat landscape, policy and risk updates,
vulnerability and incident data, and programme status.
Cyber threats and information security are a key focus
for the Board’s Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
and the Executive Risk Management Committee.
Detailed updates, including those on the threat
landscape, residual risk and security strategy, security
position and security programme progress, are provided
quarterly. The Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
reviews deep dives into significant incidents. Cyber
security awareness and training is undertaken with the
Vodacom Board Audit and Risk Committee as threats
evolve or new directors are onboarded.
Ensuring governance oversight
Chief Technology Officer
Accountable Executive
Committee member
Group Audit, Risk and
Compliance Committee
Board
oversight
Managing cyber incidents
Our incident management framework and an experienced team govern our response
to security incidents. We capture trillions of events and logs from devices across our
footprint, detecting potential threats and events. Low-severity issues are dealt with
quickly through endpoint protection. More significant events are escalated to our
global 24/7 incident management and response team, focusing on fast risk mitigation
and customer security.
We run incident simulation trainings in each OpCo to prepare teams to effectively
manage a cyber incident following our common approach. We provided focused
training for our Group and OpCo Executive Committee members, which they cascade
to their teams.
In the event of a cyber incident, we determine its validity, perform an internal
investigation, notify relevant data regulators where applicable, notify affected
customers, and provide these customers with security advisories. Timelines to notify
affected customers vary based on local and global data regulations.
We classify security incidents according to severity, measured by business and
customer impact, with the highest category being a significant data breach or loss of
service. We experienced no critical incidents in the last five years. We disclose any
cyber breaches in line with local regulations and laws, such as the Protection of
Personal Information Act and the Cybercrimes Act in South Africa. Disclosure is
determined by a risk assessment that considers customers, law enforcement, relevant
authorities and our external auditors.
We contractually require our suppliers and third parties to report any cyber incidents
and we track and manage these internally.
Our cyber liability insurance policies cover some or all costs in the event of an
information security breach.
3 Protecting privacy and data continued
Impacting society
As pivotal role players in technology,
communication, and financial services
in the markets in which we operate,
we take the role we play in empowering
cyber security within our industry and
society seriously.
We actively engage with stakeholders across industry and with regulators,
standard setting bodies and governments. Understanding that increased
collaboration across the telecommunication industry is key to tackling
cyber crime, Vodacom leads the Cyber security Incident Response Team at
the Communication Risk Information Centre in South Africa, and is an
active member in governmental and industry incident bodies in Tanzania
and Egypt.
We offer free and paid cyber security services and awareness drives across
our OpCos to enable small businesses and individuals to be more resilient
to cyber crime. We launched our Cyber security Clinic in South Africa and
DRC to help SMEs understand the importance of cyber security and
mechanisms to protect their business from harm.
Promoting diversity in cyber security is equally important. Vodacom
supports the Women in Cyber security movement. In addition to creating
multiple engagement opportunities, the Vodacom managing executive
of cyber security is the current president of Women in Cyber security
Southern Africa.
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 68
70. We have a zero-tolerance approach to unsafe behaviours.
Our Absolute Rules guide our employees, suppliers and
contractors, focusing on risks with the highest potential
for harm.
1
Always wear seat belts when travelling in or operating
vehicles.
2
Always use suitable personal protective equipment,
a safety harness and fall protection equipment when
working at height. (Harnesses must be attached at all
times when working at height).
3
Never execute electrical work on electrical
equipment, circuits and gear if you are not qualified.
4
Never exceed speed limits or travel at dangerous
speeds for the type of road, vehicle, or conditions.
5
Never use a handheld phone while driving; only make
calls by pulling over or using hands-free devices
when it is safe.
6
Never work under the influence of substances
(alcohol or drugs) which are illegal, above legal levels
or where this impairs your ability to perform tasks.
7
Never undertake any street or underground work
activities unless you are competent to do so.
Due to the specific nature of the risks in Vodacom
operations, we have three additional rules:
8
Always wear helmets when travelling on or operating
a motorbike.
9
No passengers are allowed in the back of bakkies
and trucks.
10
Always maintain the required safe distance and use
the correct insulated equipment when working near
power.
Keeping people safe is one of our most important responsibilities. We focus on
creating a safe working environment for everyone working for and on behalf of
Vodacom and in the communities in which we operate.
The Vodacom safety, health and well-being policy sets out how to maintain this
culture across the Group. Our safety, health and well-being framework provides
a consistent approach to planning, performance monitoring, governance and
assurance. Our commitment to safety applies to employees, contractors, and
suppliers – all of whom benefit from the same focus on preventing harm on
and between worksites.
4.1 Managing health and safety
1.
Data excludes Egypt due to governmental and legal restrictions.
4 Protecting people
Wherever we operate, we have an opportunity to contribute to advancing the
fundamental rights of our customers, employees and communities. We are
conscious of the risks associated with our operations and we work hard to
mitigate negative impacts, ensuring we keep people safe.
Managing health and safety risks
Our aim to embed the safety culture of “No One Gets Hurt” has been a
successful journey, moving the focus from the absence of incidents to the
presence of controls. The commitment of “We work safe, or we don’t
work” is entrenched, ensuring the safety, health, and well-being of our
employees, partners and nearby communities.
Our safety, health and environmental standard empowers employees and
suppliers to remove themselves from work which they deem might impact
their safety, health and well-being. A safe space is created for suppliers to
raise any concerns with managing personnel. Managers are responsible for
implementing the standard and for ensuring no reprisal takes place as a
result.
Three health and safety risks account for most reported incidents, namely
occupational road risk, falls from height and working near electricity.
Future risks are identified during annual reviews, process changes, new
projects, procuring equipment, fatality and major incident reviews, and
monthly reporting.
Road risk
Improving driver behaviour and reducing other aspects of road risk
remains a focus. Driver behaviour is monitored internally and by our
partner base. This includes tracking and managing several parameters,
including speeding, night driving, fatigue, and harsh braking. We have
895 on-board cameras in our active fleet and 852 in our partner base.
We updated our digital journey management mobile application,
improving our high-risk trip planning, predictability of hot spots, and
compliance analysis. Defensive driving and anti-hijacking training is
conducted internally and by our partners.
Our efforts yielded 219 447safe journeys (FY2023: 238 248)
while travelling more than 13 (FY2023: 15) million kilometres, during
which our drivers spent 531 787 hours (FY2023: 610 709) on the road1
.
We will continue to improve our supplier management and engagement
to address road risk further.
Absolute Rules
Read more about our health and safety policy
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 69
71. Occupational health
Work-related hazards that pose a risk of ill health
to employees and suppliers are identified and
managed through job risk exposure profiles. Based
on these exposure profiles, employees are subject
to scheduled occupational health surveillance
programmes through wellness centres. Qualified
occupational health professionals work to identify
and eliminate occupational hazards and minimise
occupational health risks. During the past year, our
OpCos focused on revisiting and reassessing all our
exposures and risk profiles.
In addition to job risk specific actions, we offer
wellness occupational health support which
includes:
y Monitoring absenteeism and the rate of
occupational disease;
y Stress assessments and identifying stress sources;
y Stress training for managers;
y Job redesign where required; and
y Periodic health risk assessments, including
workplace ergonomics reviews.
Mental health and well-being
We remain focused on physical and mental
well-being, with training and services available in
each OpCo, including providing employee
assistance, and temporary disability and
psychological support services.
Our employee well-being programme includes stress
management, mental health support, physical fitness,
and financial management. We offer free health
screenings for employees and continue to drive
Group-wide employee support through our employee
assistance programme, counsellors, and employee
well-being ambassadors, who assist with coping
strategies, stress management, communication, grief
counselling and parental guidance.
We hosted over 37well-being webinars
for employees across our OpCos.
We enhanced our employee value proposition with the
C.A.R.E. initiative, which creates a work environment
where all employees feel empowered to succeed. Our
initial focus is on broadening support, working flexibility
and employee benefits related to menstruation,
miscarriage, stillbirth, menopause, and compassionate
leave for employees or their immediate families.
We offered online mental health first aid training to all
people leaders, well-being ambassadors, HR business
partners and high-risk suppliers.
Vodafone Egypt is one of the first companies in the
Middle East and the first in Vodacom to be verified
against ISO 45003 for psychological health and safety
at work.
As part of our well-being strategy, we develop response
plans as health issues arise. Our employee assistance
programme and temporary disability programme
support employees with any health impediments.
Delivering training and awareness
We include a health and safety module as part of our
mandatory Doing What’s Right training. Contractors
complete separate training relevant to their role and
position.
97%of employees completed their
assigned health and safety training by
31 March 2024 (FY2023: 94%).
OpCos are responsible for delivering health and safety
training that promotes appropriate skills and behaviours
and identifies risks.
We hosted two supplier forums, attended by over
500 partners. Our suppliers have received these forums
well, furthering the adoption of our “No One Gets Hurt”
culture and leading us to establish valuable programmes
such as wellness ambassador training and positive
safety training.
We adhere to the Vodafone safety, health and
well-being framework, which includes monitoring
and assessing risks, setting targets, reviewing
progress and reporting performance. The
framework is based on international occupational
health and safety standards, aligns with
internationally recognised best practice, and
meets or exceeds local legislative requirements.
Vodacom implemented an occupational
health and safety management system in
alignment with ISO 45001 requirements.
The OpCo safety, health and well-being teams
conduct internal inspections. All incidents are
reported and investigated in adherence with
timeframes in our incident reporting standard. We
investigate incidents according to their severity,
then take appropriate remedial actions and
identify and implement possible improvements.
Employee engagement and consultation are the
foundation of our approach. All OpCos have
safety and health workplace committees
comprising management, employee and
supplier representation. These committees meet
regularly and are tasked to highlight and address
safety and health concerns and risks raised by
employee health and safety representatives and
on-site suppliers.
Safety and health are included in our risk and
compliance governance programme. The internal
ISO audit team monitors compliance across the
Vodacom Group including OpCos on a rotational
basis as well as select external service providers.
In FY2024, health and safety audits were
conducted in South Africa, Lesotho and Tanzania.
Four e-waste suppliers were audited to assure
compliance with Vodacom safety, health,
well-being and environmental standards.
Community safety projects are safety awareness
campaigns for the public including school
learners on topics like road safety. These
campaigns were reviewed and aligned across
all OpCos.
Leadership engagement
Leadership commitment is key to our approach.
Our senior leaders increased their visibility and
engagement by conducting regular tours on
working sites with dynamic risks to promote a
positive safety, health and well-being culture.
Our Doing What’s Right training module includes
a video from our Chief Human Resource Officer,
demonstrating senior-level support for Vodacom’s
Absolute Rules.
768top management tours to work sites
Ensuring governance oversight
Board
oversight
Accountable
Executive Committee
member
Chief Officer:
HR
Group Social and
Ethics Committee
4 Protecting people continued
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 70
72. Measuring our performance
Any injury is one too many and any loss of life
related to our operations is unacceptable. We
celebrate Tanzania, Lesotho, Egypt, and DRC for
a fatality-free year. Regrettably, we experienced
two fatalities within our supplier base: one in
Mozambique following an attack by bees and
another in South Africa, where a pedestrian was
killed. These fatalities have been investigated
and closed out. We continue to apply learnings,
sustain our controls and enhance ways of
working to prevent any reoccurrences. After a
thorough investigation, we record all fatal
incidents related to our operations to ascertain
why controls were not effective in preventing
the incident. We consider if controls could have
been enhanced, within reason, to produce a
different outcome.
Each fatality is tabled for review at the Vodafone
Fatality Review Board, chaired by the Chief
Human Resource Officer and supported by the
global head of safety, health and well-being. The
OpCo CEO gives the presentation, and we share
any lessons learned from each fatality across the
relevant Group functions.
Managers are responsible for implementing the
standard and for ensuring no reprisal takes place
as a result.
Key performance indicators are reported
monthly to the Executive Committee and the
Board bi-annually. Indicators include the top
safety risks, including breaches of our Absolute
Rules, LTIs and fatalities.
We recorded 154breaches
of Absolute Rules and
111incidents relating to
our top risks (FY2023: 97 breaches
and 216 incidents).
Each incident is investigated at a scale proportionate to the indicative level of risk.
We seek to identify the root cause and ensure suitable corrective action is taken
where necessary.
2024 2023 2022 2021
Work-related injuries or ill health
(excluding fatalities)
Employees 1 5 171 114
Suppliers’ employees/contractors 7 17 121 282
LTIs
Number of employee LTIs1
1 1 2 7
LTI rate per 1 000 employees2
0.06 – – –
Total recordable fatalities
Employees 0 0 0 0
Suppliers’ employees/contractors 1 0 0 1
Members of the public 1 0 2 0
1.
When an employee is injured while executing a work-related task and is consequently
unable to perform regular duties for a complete shift or period of time after the
incident.
2. Rate was not calculated in previous financial years.
The LTI occurred at a work site and involved a supplier’s employee. Zero LTIs
occurred while working from home or Vodacom’s offices. We continue reinforcing
the requirements of respective safe home working policies and guidance across all
OpCos to avoid at-home incidents.
On Sunday, 9 July 2023, an electrical fire caused extensive damage to the
Vodacom Century City offices in South Africa. No injuries were reported,
employees were relocated, and repairs to the building are underway.
Masts, mobile phones and health
We strive to provide our customers uninterrupted network connectivity without
endangering their health. The health and safety of our customers, employees,
contractors, and the public are very important to us. To this end, we have put in
place policies and procedures to govern the masts and mobile devices in our
network to ensure compliance to the international Electromagnetic Field (EMF)
safety standards. The International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation
Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines is the most widely accepted international EMF
safety guideline and it is recognised nationally and internationally by the World
Health Organization. Any EMF exposure levels below the ICNIRP guidelines limits
do not pose a health risk according to decades of scientific consensus. Our masts
and devices comply fully with these guidelines, and we continually monitor and
evaluate our mobile network to ensure we meet all regulations.
How your
mobile works
How science
works
Watch Cellphones,
base stations and you
Our governance mechanisms and regular compliance assessments ensure that
our masts and devices meet, not only these international standards, but also our
internal policy requirements. We conduct network measurements and calculations
of EMF exposure from the network masts and review the reports of EMF testing on
devices. The constant evolution of mobile technology result in Vodacom also
governing the EMF safety compliance of the latest technologies (5G and beyond)
for masts and mobile devices, according to international best practice.
We participate in a compliance self-assessment programme, with assurance and
test controls provided by the Vodafone Group Plc compliance team. One of these
test controls ensures high-risk employees and contractors go through periodic
compliance training and certification as a precautionary and awareness measure.
1 302 base transceiver station visits undertaken to verify conformity.
Number of sites certified
South Africa Tanzania DRC Mozambique Lesotho
15 261 3 199 2 495 2 181 393
EMF training and awareness is continuous and specific employees must redo the
training every three years to review their knowledge on how to work safely on site
from a radio frequency point of view. More than 637 EMF training certificates have
been issued in South Africa over the last two years.
Vodacom is committed to actively collaborate with regulators, communities and
other stakeholders to address any concerns about mobile phones, masts, the
environment and health.
4 Protecting people continued
Read more about mobile masts and health
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
About this report Materiality approach Leadership reflections on ESG Our ESG approach and impact
Purpose
Maintaining trust
Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 71
73. 4 Protecting people continued
This holistic approach ensures
that we integrate human rights
considerations into our policies,
governance, and due diligence
processes, allowing us to manage
and mitigate associated risks
effectively.
The Human Rights Policy
Statement and human rights
policy sets out how our
employees can ensure we
respect human rights. This
includes steps in other aligned
policies, such as those covering
AI, child protection, conflict
minerals, health, safety,
well-being, HR, privacy
management, marketing,
business resilience and law
enforcement assistance (LEA).
4.2 Respecting human rights
Science monitoring
We continuously monitor scientific reviews in the EMF safety field. We follow the results of the
independent domain experts to understand any new developments in the scientific research related
to mobile devices, base stations and health. 2024 findings from the Cohort Study of Mobile Phone
Use and Health project, included data from more than 250 000 users of mobile phones. The
participants came from Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom and
many of them had more than 15 years of regular mobile phone use. The study found no evidence
of a causal association between the cumulative amount of mobile phone use and the risk of
developing brain tumours.
Vodacom is committed to positively impacting people and society which includes respecting
human rights in all our operations, in alignment with the United Nations Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). We are also a member of the UNGC.
Our approach is further informed by Vodafone’s global policies and human rights approach, which
includes:
Managing human rights risks
As a telecommunications operator, we prioritise digital human
rights such as privacy, freedom of expression, and access to
information. This includes safeguarding their data and addressing
broader human rights considerations within our supply chain,
especially those related to labour.
Right to privacy and freedom of expression
Telecommunications operators must comply with local
laws that may require us to disclose customer information
to assist law enforcement agencies. We do this
transparently and lawfully, guided by internal policies.
Supply chain
Our supply chain management programme assesses
suppliers for indicators such as forced labour, excessive
work hours and freedom of expression.
Broader risks
Risks we may become connected with through our
broader value chain.
Our human rights programme addresses a broader range of
human rights risks, such as those relating to the design and
deployment of AI, children’s rights, data ethics and risks we may
encounter through our broader value chain, for example
enterprise customers or partner markets.
Managing human rights in our supply chain
We manage human rights risks in our supply chain through our
supply chain management programme, which assesses our
suppliers for indicators such as forced labour, child labour and
other risks to human rights. Our suppliers are expected to
comply with our human rights commitments in our code of
ethical purchasing. We leverage Vodafone’s Joint Alliance for
CSR (JAC) membership and benefit from on-site supplier audits
and sharing of best practices with other telecommunications
operators to enhance our supply chain management. We believe
in supporting the responsible sourcing of minerals globally.
Read more about our approach to conflict minerals on Page 76
To embed a culture of human rights, ethical purchasing
and anti-bribery in the procurement process,
compliance, ethics, and supply chain management, and
human rights representatives conducted cross-
functional supply chain management governance
training on ethical purchasing, our code of conduct,
buying code, anti-bribery, conflict of interest and
integrating human rights into supply chain management.
Training was provided to employees who closely
interface with supply chain management, suppliers and
Executive Committee members.
Read more about our Human
Rights Policy Statement
Human rights
due diligence
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Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 72
74. These rights are those most vulnerable to substantial negative
impacts from our operations. Vodacom’s focus on these issues
underscores our commitment to prioritising mitigating risks based
on their potential impact on people.
Key recommendations and implementation progress
The assessment found that Vodacom operates in a dynamic
landscape marked by escalating risks, particularly within subsidiary
operations or supply chains. Our operations have the potential to
– even unintentionally – affect human rights and that despite
having strong support for a culture of respect for human rights and
a robust public commitment, there are challenges in articulating
specific human rights relevant to our responsibilities. Key findings
included the limited resources dedicated to human rights,
a complex policy architecture, and a need to enhance
third party accessibility to grievance mechanisms. It was
also observed that product risk assessments overlooked
broader human rights considerations and the need to
enhance infrastructure footprint assessment and
community engagement mechanisms.
In response, we took steps to enhance our approach to
human rights. We reviewed our governance structure and
policy framework and revised our human rights policy.
We localised our governance structures and established
a cross-functional human rights advisory group. We host
UNGC human rights training modules on our Grow with
Vodacom platform. We revised our human rights
champion’s network to ensure optimum impact and
appointed our first human rights specialist. We are
aligning our business and new product risk assessment
with human rights risks to proactively identify and
address broader human rights risks. In FY2025 we will
focus on capacity building, monitoring, improved
controls, embedding a culture of human rights in the
business, and developing product-level impact
assessment tools.
Operating soundly
The Group human rights principal specialist works with
the Vodafone human rights manager, supported by a
cross-functional internal human rights advisory group
comprising senior managers responsible for privacy,
security, responsible sourcing, and diversity and inclusion,
among others. This group meets to review our
performance, challenges and external trends. We
communicate our performance through regular reporting
and stakeholder engagements. Our planned risk controls
will allow us to monitor our human rights performance
throughout the value chain. We have targeted training
aimed at key functions at high risk of human rights
impacts. Our training is tailored to the unique challenges
faced by these functions. It supports embedding human
rights, including within supply chain management, risk
management, and data privacy. The targeted training
complements the internally available UNGC training.
Assisting law enforcement agencies
We also ensure the protection of human rights while assisting law enforcement
agencies. Local laws and regulations can mandate telecommunications operators
to assist governments, and we must comply with lawful government requests as
part of our operating licences. This might include the disclosure of customer
information or the limitation of access to digital networks and services. Our LEA
assistance policy guides us on how to do this in a way that respects people’s rights,
and our transparency reporting provides data on certain requests we receive.
ESG Read more about law enforcement agencies and human rights
complaints in our ESG addendum
Responding to law enforcement requests:
All LEA engagements are conducted by a small number of highly trained,
security-cleared Vodacom personnel, who are prohibited, usually by law, from
sharing the request or customer data more widely. Compliance is regularly
audited.
4 Protecting people continued
Competent Authority makes legally valid
request1
, submitting it to Vodacom’s team.
Request executed strictly (within
the narrowest parameter) required.
Data is shared via secure systems.
Request returned to
competent authority,
unfulfilled.
Can Vodacom technically
fulfil? E.g. do we have the
data/ is it a Vodacom
customer?
Request triaged based on
severity. Where there is a threat
to life a response will be required
almost immediately.
1 Legally valid requests are those that:
• are provided for or prescribed by local law, rather than being arbitrary interference
• pursue a legitimate aim (e.g. prevention of crime)
• are necessary to achieve a particular social need
• adequate to do so yet proportionate.
Yes No
Right to
privacy
Freedom of
expression
Labour
rights
Right to health and a
healthy environment
Indigenous
peoples rights
Responsible sourcing
of minerals
Socioeconomic
rights
Rights
of a child
Assessing our human rights impact
We conduct human rights risk and impact assessments as part of
our ongoing due diligence. This dual-pronged approach allows us
to proactively monitor our risk environment and effectively address
any possible impact or incidents. We follow up assessments with
mitigating actions such as contractual commitments to respect
human rights. We are committed to providing redress wherever
possible for identified human rights violations.
In partnership with Vodafone, we engaged Linklaters and Webber
Wetzel to conduct an independent human rights impact
assessment of our operations and OpCos. The assessment
identified the following salient human rights:
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 73
75. Ensuring governance oversight
Chief Officer:
Regulatory and
External Affairs
Accountable Executive
Committee member
Group Social and
Ethics Committee
Board
oversight
The principal human rights specialist reports to the
Group Executive Head of ESG and sustainable business
who reports to the accountable executive and
manages and oversees human rights programmes
daily. They provide regular status reports to the Group
Chief Officer: Regulatory and External Affairs, and
updates to the Group Social and Ethics Committee.
Employees are responsible for respecting and
protecting human rights, and OpCos are accountable
for compliance.
A local Executive Committee member oversees our
human rights programme’s local implementation.
The Vodacom ESG and sustainable business executive
approves new standards and guidelines and monitors
the implementation of global human rights plans.
4 Protecting people continued
Access to remedies
We maintain a grievance mechanism accessible to
all rights holders through Speak Up. This year we
received three human rights-related complaints
through Speak Up.
Speak Up
Read more about Speak Up on Page 53
Collaborating for impact
We work with others to better understand what
businesses should do to respect human rights. This
is achieved through our participation in initiatives
such as UNGC Network, UN B-Tech Project, our
observer status at Global Network Initiative and
other initiatives, which convenes business, civil
society and government to advance
implementation of the United Nations Guiding
Principles in the technology industry. As part of the
Human Rights 75 Initiative in December 2023, with
Vodafone, we joined with other B-Tech Community
of Practice members to make a public pledge to
continue engaging with other companies to share
experiences of implementing our respect for human
rights commitments. We also have partnership with
United for Wildlife and Stop the Traffik.
Vodacom Group Limited Environmental, social and governance report for the year ended 31 March 2024
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Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 74
76. 5 Promoting
responsible
and inclusive
procurement
5.1 Managing our supply chain
We spent R90.0 billion with 24 932 suppliers (including
property owners) to meet our business and customers’
needs (FY2023: R90.6 billion; 25 661). Our most
significant areas of spend are network infrastructure,
IT and services related to fixed lines, mobile phone
masts and data centres that run our networks. The
next largest expenditure area is the products we sell,
including mobile phones, tablets, SIM cards, routers,
IoT devices and site rentals.
Procurement is a highly centralised function, with
approximately 64% of our external spend managed
by Vodafone Procurement Company (FY2023: 63%).
This allows for a consistent approach to supplier
management, including vetting and onboarding,
monitoring and improving supplier performance.
When new suppliers tender for work, they need to
demonstrate policies and procedures that support safe
working conditions and diversity in the workplace and
which address GHG emissions reduction, renewable
energy, plastic reduction, circular economy and product
life cycle, which account for up to 20% of the overall
evaluation criteria. Commitments made by our
suppliers are assessed against our purpose strategy
concerning diversity and inclusion, the environment,
and health and safety in categories with a safety risk.
We have included purpose criteria in all FY2024 tenders.
In FY2023 we launched an improved supplier
qualification process that uses a risk-based assessment
to review compliance for any new suppliers in Tanzania,
DRC and Lesotho. In FY2025 we will be expanding the
process to South Africa. We continue to assess risk
during our onboarding process by using a Supplier
Assurance Risk Management System for new suppliers
in high-risk areas that are material to our business,
such as cyber security, data privacy, corporate security,
environment, anti-bribery, responsible sourcing, health
and safety and payment card industry.
We seek to leverage the work of Vodafone and other
operators who work collaboratively on supply chain
risks within the JAC. Vodafone chairs the JAC working
group established to improve ethical, labour and
environmental standards in the technology supply
chain. Focus is on key risks in our supply chain, namely
human rights, reducing scope 3 GHG emissions and
driving a circular economy to reduce e-waste. JAC
reports progress on third party factory audits of mutual
suppliers carried out on behalf of all its members in its
reporting. As members of the JAC, we benefit from their
on-site supplier audits and best practice sharing.
We expect our suppliers and business partners to
comply with our code of ethical purchasing. These
commitments extend through the supply chain so
that our directly contracted suppliers (Tier 1 supplier)
ensure compliance across their own direct supply chain
(Tier 2 supplier from Vodacom’s perspective) and
beyond.
The code of ethical purchasing is based on international
standards, including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the International Labour
Organization’s Fundamental Conventions on Labour
Standards. It stipulates the social, ethical and
environmental standards that we expect, including in
areas such as child and forced labour, health and safety,
working hours, discrimination and disciplinary
processes. In South Africa, our suppliers are also subject
to B-BBEE requirements.
To ensure safe and fair working conditions,
and to responsibly manage environmental
and social issues across our supply chains
we encourage suppliers and business
partners to adopt sustainable business
practices.
We aim to work with suppliers who closely
align with our purpose and who share our
values and expect our suppliers to meet our
mandatory ethical, labour and
environmental standards, to be accountable
for managing risk in their operations, and to
hold their suppliers accountable to equally
high standards.
Vodacom procurement is executed in
accordance with Vodafone’s approach and
policies, including the:
y Code of ethical purchasing; and
y Slavery and human trafficking
statement.
ESG Read more about our responsible supply
chain in our ESG addendum
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Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 75
77. Managing supply chain risks
Our main supply chain risks relate to health and
safety matters, excessive working hours, and
environmental matters related to non-compliant
chemical storage and lack of GHG emissions
reduction programmes. Suppliers that do not
meet our standards are provided with a corrective
action plan to address any areas for improvement
and are required to submit evidence of
completion.
Over the past three years, we have reorganised
our supply chain management function and
created a governance function as a second line of
defence that oversees and safeguards supply
chain management risks, controls, and
compliance. This is to enable a proactive and
holistic governance, risk and compliance
management capability for supply chain
management across our OpCos. We aim to have
visibility of internal and external supply chain
management risks across OpCos to identify and
standardise best-in-class prevention,
preparedness, response and recovery-based
controls. We proactively register risks through the
enterprise risk management process. In FY2025,
we will implement a risk and business rule-based
supply chain management sourcing policy across
all OpCos.
Any identified risks require an independent policy
expert to approve suppliers before they are
onboarded and, if necessary, to establish a
mitigation plan. Policy owners assess all high-risk
suppliers to ensure independence, objectivity and
the absence of conflicts of interest. Our
requirements are backed by risk assessments,
audits and operational improvement processes,
which are included in suppliers’ contractual
commitments.
Vodacom South Africa hosted the annual Global
Supplier Forum to enhance our joint effort in
managing risks suppliers are exposed to. The
forum was also used to provide information on
existing initiatives and their impact, and promote
engagement with SMEs.
Read more about our approach to health and
safety, which includes our suppliers on Page 69
When we evaluate suppliers’ compliance against
our health, safety, environment and quality
requirements, we conduct supplier audits to
examine contractual requirements according to
underlying risk profiles. Those who do not meet
our standards are placed on the non-
conformance register and must present
evidence of a corrective action plan with
timelines and progress updated until
completion, with evidence of completion. Where
applicable suppliers may be required to pay a
penalty or services may be terminated.
16
Supplier audits (FY2023: 37)
Top areas of non-compliance
y Deviations from contractual
requirements
y Non-compliance with health and
safety, quality and environmental
standards
Conflict minerals
We believe in supporting the responsible
sourcing of minerals. Although we do not
source minerals ourselves, through the
Vodafone global ethical purchasing activities,
we follow the best practice of the OECD Due
Diligence Guidance to understand whether our
manufactured products include minerals which
have been sourced from smelters, taking a
responsible approach to sourcing.
Our products contain numerous components
that may contain one or more of the 3TG
metals (metals – tin, tungsten, tantalum, gold
and cobalt – sometimes mined in the
conflict-ridden eastern DRC). Tin is often used
as a soldering material for electronic
components, gold and tantalum are typically
used in components such as connectors or
capacitors, and tungsten may be used in
printed circuit boards.
The Vodafone responsible minerals statement
provides an overview of Vodafone’s due
diligence framework to mitigate any risk that
our products contain conflict minerals. Our
processes on responsible sourcing of cobalt
mirror the due diligence approach for 3TG. DRC
is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, and we
include disclosures on our activities in DRC
within the annual Vodafone responsible
minerals report.
Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, the Managing Executive:
Supply Chain is responsible for implementing our code of ethical
purchasing. Specific country legislation and risks are considered
and, in some countries, procurement committees provide
additional oversight.
Ensuring governance oversight
ChiefFinancial
Officer
Accountable Executive
Committee member
Board
oversight
Group Social and
Ethics Committee
5 Promote responsible and inclusive procurement continued
Read more about the Responsible
Minerals statement
Read more about the Responsible
Minerals Report 2023
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78. 5.2 Supporting local economic development
Supporting local enterprises is pivotal for
economic empowerment and contributes to
the creation and endurance of employment
and socioeconomic development
opportunities. Our centralised procurement
approach is blended with a localisation
approach to contribute to our operating
countries’ economic growth.
B-BBEE is integral to our business and supplier
strategy in South Africa. We prioritise
purchasing from SMEs, especially black-owned
and black-women-owned entities. Our diversity
and inclusion efforts extend across our
footprint, focusing on women-owned and small
enterprises. We give preferential payment
terms (average seven to 15 days) to ensure
qualifying SMEs remain financially sustainable.
Read more about our B-BBEE scorecard on
Page 18
The Ithuba initiative in South Africa
equipped 41 SMEs (FY2023: 60) with
marketing strategies and tools, including
corporate branding, website design and
development, and a basic social media
package.
We facilitated a partnership between an
original equipment manufacturer and local
factories in Egypt to localise the
manufacturing of cables, batteries,
antennas and other equipment.
Our SME Supplier Portal in Mozambique
is a digital platform that supports the
registration and onboarding of potential
suppliers, enhancing speed and transparency
in the processes. We invited 143 suppliers to
tender with 32 contracts being awarded, of
which 25 were to SMMEs.
We partnered with Absa to provide SMEs and
local suppliers in Mozambique with access
to affordable finance.
We are initiating supplier development plans
for our other OpCos. These diversity and
inclusion efforts extend across our footprint,
with a focus on women-owned and small
enterprises.
1. Qualifying small enterprises and exempted microenterprises.
Vodacom South Africa assisted SMEs in our supply chain in various ways, including:
An SME learnership that pays for interns;
Health and safety management systems and
protective equipment to ensure compliance with
health and safety requirements;
Logistics equipment, skills and tools;
Financial management tools; and
Supply chain finance product designed to provide
short-term financing support to Vodacom suppliers.
Preferential rate business loans to black-owned
Vodacom shops through our retail transformation
programme; R48.5 million was extended to 17
franchisees (FY2023: R29.6 million; 15 franchises);
Training in cyber security, Radwin installer, AI and
Big Data;
Supplier development vouchers to allow access
to support including business plans, legal and tax
guidance;
Small enterprises in our supply chain
R8.8 billion
spent in enterprise development
and preferential procurement
of small enterprises
(FY2023: R8.8 billion)
R20 million
invested annually through our
Vodacom Supplier Development
Fund (FY2023: R20 million)
56
SMEs using a free health and safety
management system with eight in
their third and final year (130 since
2017) (FY2023: 52 and 8)
R7 billion
spent with
1 037
QSE and EME suppliers1
(FY2023: R8.4 billion, 1 753)
184
black-owned SMEs benefited
from preferential payment terms
to the value of R1.8 billion
(FY2023: 148; R2.0 billion)
58
black-owned SMEs received
supplier development vouchers
(FY2023: 72)
5 Promote responsible and inclusive procurement continued
South Africa
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Purpose
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Empowering people
Protectingtheplanet 77