Airtel Africa drives sustainable growth, curbing emissions with infrastructure upgrades while expanding telecoms and digital inclusion in Africa
Airtel Africa continues to scale its telecoms and fintech infrastructure across 14 sub-Saharan markets, while keeping its environmental impact broadly stable.
Operating in areas where energy access is often limited, the company approaches sustainability as an integral part of day-to-day operations rather than a standalone compliance exercise.
In many locations lacking reliable national grid connectivity, Airtel Africa has historically depended on diesel generators to maintain network uptime.
During 2025/26, however, the company transitioned 390 off-grid sites onto grid power, taking its total number of grid-connected sites to more than 21,500 out of a portfolio exceeding 40,300 assets.
These improvements, alongside the deployment of 176 lithium-ion batteries and enhanced cooling technologies, contributed to a reduction of 9.1 million litres in diesel usage over the year.
As a result, Scope 1 and 2 emissions reached 136,133 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent, marking a modest 1.6% year-on-year increase.
This represents a notable deceleration compared to the 4.3% rise recorded in 2024/25, despite continued network expansion.
Read more: https://fintechmagazine.com/news/how-airtel-africa-is-scaling-fintech-while-cutting-emissions
