LONDON —
IHS Holding Limited (NYSE: IHS) (“IHS Towers”), one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, has today published its 2022 Sustainability Report.
The report covers sustainability activities from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, and is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards and maps our sustainability initiatives to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Our approach to sustainability is guided by the UN Global Compact, to which we have been a signatory since 2020 and the report serves as our third annual “Communications on Progress.”
As demonstrated by our 2022 Sustainability Report, we remain committed to our wider stakeholders including, but not limited to, our employees, communities, suppliers, customers, and investors. By providing communications infrastructure that helps facilitate digital connectivity and inclusion, our four-pillar sustainability strategy, which focuses on ethics and governance, environment and climate change, education and economic growth, and our people and communities, seeks to deliver value within the communities we serve.
Throughout 2022, we partnered with international and local organizations to deliver targeted programs with appropriate scale and reach. We also reaffirmed sustainability as a central tenet of our company by establishing it as a fifth core value, alongside customer focus, innovation, integrity and boldness, to further embed these values across our company, and in everything we do.
2022 Sustainability Report Highlights
- Spent $7.5 million on community-focused sustainability initiatives, bringing our community investments to more than $22 million since 2017.
- Through our Carbon Reduction Roadmap, we committed to reduce the Scope 1 and Scope 2 kilowatt-hour (kWh) emissions intensity of our tower portfolio by approximately 50% by 2030 compared to a 2021 baseline.
- Granted scholarships to 18 students from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria under our Frontline Workers Initiative. Launched in 2021, this program offers the children of our frontline workers, and equivalent suppliers, the opportunity to apply for IHS-funded financial scholarships to study at top tier universities.
- Concluded the first year of our three-year partnership supporting Giga, the UNICEF-ITU initiative for connecting all schools to the internet. Data shared under the partnership’s contribution-in-kind component helped Giga determine that in Rwanda:
- The average distance from a school to the closest tower is 2.5 km.
- Over 98% of schools are visible from at least one tower, while 95% are visible from two towers and 91% from three towers.
- Partnered with the Brazilian NGO Afroreggae to fund AfroGames, two educational centers in Rio de Janeiro favelas providing free coding and English classes, approximately 200 residents registered.
- Delivered localized renewable power projects; donated 106 units of 60W and 100W solar-powered streetlights across three states in Nigeria to provide street lighting for communities of approximately 510,000 residents combined, and in Rwanda supported the Development Bank of Rwanda’s initiative by connecting solar power systems to 1,000 homes in the Rulindo District.
- Launched borehole drilling projects across multiple African markets including in Zambia where we drilled 16 boreholes providing rural communities with clean, safe drinking water.
- Deployed 65,533 batteries and sold 20,799 for reuse or recycling.
- Under our Group-wide Generator Recycling Program, donated 77 generators to schools, orphanages and health centers. Approximately 350 generators have been donated since the program launched in 2017.
Sam Darwish, IHS Towers Chairman & CEO, commented “I am delighted to announce the publication of our 2022 Sustainability Report and share the progress of our sustainability strategy as we completed our first full year as a publicly listed company. As facilitators of mobile connectivity, we believe we play an important role in the development of the markets in which we operate and continue to pursue our vision to help create a connected world where mobile connectivity further enables economic growth and social development.
2022 was a year of great accomplishment as we further grew our operational footprint. With that growth comes responsibility, and a key priority for our company is to reduce the negative impact of greenhouse gas emissions which remain a significant challenge for our industry. We were proud to publish our Carbon Reduction Roadmap in October 2022, and I have been encouraged to see the remarkable community-focused environmental initiatives pursued by our local sustainability teams.
This report includes details on these initiatives, updates on our flagship Giga partnership and our unique Frontline Workers Initiative as we seek to provide opportunities for the next generation to learn, develop and thrive.
We are passionate about delivering positive social impact for our people, communities and broader stakeholders. To all, I thank you and our incredible partners for supporting our sustainability agenda in 2022.”
