Airtel Africa sustainability score: 47/100
Airtel Africa plc is a pan-African telecommunications operator providing mobile, fixed-line, and data services across 14 sub-Saharan African countries. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Amsterdam, it operates over 36,000 4G sites in markets including Nigeria, DRC, Zambia, and Kenya, serving approximately 114 million customers.
More about Airtel Africa
Listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Head office NetherlandsStaff ~12,352Revenue ~$4.96BWebsite ↗
Airtel Africa discloses emissions data aligned with GHG Protocol but lacks third-party verification. Absolute emissions rise annually despite intensity improvements. The company operates across 14 African markets with heavy diesel dependency and minimal renewable energy integration. Unverified net-zero claims and intensity-only targets mask the core problem: growing total carbon footprint.
Airtel Africa scores 47/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified October 2026.
That places Airtel Africa joint 237th of 934 companies scored, and 12th of 19 in Telecommunications.
What is Airtel Africa doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Carbon Footprint: Operations (8/10, 6/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Energy Source (2/10, 2/10).
Where Airtel Africa lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations6/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain6/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling2/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is2/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets4/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Airtel Africa's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Airtel Africa's score changed?
Airtel Africa's score has moved from 45 to 47 across 2 recorded reviews, up 2 points.
- 45 → 47+23 October 2026
Aggregator-citation sweep: broker citations replaced with the primary disclosures they mirror, re-scored through the guarded pipeline under pinned code 9196601.
- Scored 452 August 2026
Initial public score 45 (publish-draft)
What evidence is Airtel Africa's score based on?
14 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
57% of them were published by Airtel Africa itself; the rest come from independent sources.
“working towards obtaining independent assurance on sustainability KPIs in future reporting cycles”
“Total scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024/25: 134,021 tCO_2e scope 1 and 2 emissions (+4.3% vs 2023/24)”
“In 2024/25, representing 85% of the total GHG emissions footprint, our scope 3 emissions amounted to 741,777 tCO₂e.”
“We do not consume or pollute significant amounts of water through our operations.”
“Airtel Africa does not consume or pollute significant amounts of water through its operations.”
“scope 1 and 2 emissions as of 31 March 2025: 891,182 — scope 3 emissions as of 31 March 2024”
“75% ESG self-assessment survey (SAQ) response rate from our top 100 suppliers in 2024/25”
“Emissions intensity decreased by 20% from the 2022 baseline, bringing the company closer to its target of a 62% reduction by 2032.”
“the company converted more than 950 infrastructure sites from off-grid to on-grid power, nearly doubling last year's figure of 500 sites”
“93% of operational waste recycled (up 3% from 2023/24)”
“Category B project … will have limited adverse E&S impacts that are few, site specific, largely reversible”
“analyzed the policy engagement of 16 major companies and 12 industry associations, including Eskom, Sasol, Minerals Council South Africa”
“Announcing the scope 3 strategy in November 2023 which sets out the partners and suppliers' engagement programme (PSEP)”
“Airtel Africa is committed to transparency in our disclosure and reporting of all sustainability-related and climate-related risks and opportunities.”
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How does Airtel Africa compare with other telecommunications companies?
Where Airtel Africa sits among telecommunications peers.
Among the 19 major telecommunications brands we've scored, Airtel Africa sits 12th of 19.
Who scores higher in Telecommunications?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Airtel Africa.
Virgin Media O2 has delivered verifiable carbon reductions—56% absolute Scope 1&2 decline since 2020, SBTi-validated targets, third-party assured reporting.
See the breakdown →altafiber reports Scope 1+2 emissions with third-party verification and a 40%-by-2030 target, but Scope 3 (73% of footprint) is screened only once per 3–5 years with no supplier engagement.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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