Safaricom is committing billions of shillings to transform how it powers its telecommunications network, replacing diesel generators with solar energy and raising green financing to reduce its carbon footprint as the cost of keeping its infrastructure running continues to grow.
The Kenyan telecommunications operator spent the year ended March 2026 consuming 10.08 million litres of diesel, worth approximately KSh2.3 billion, highlighting the cost of powering a network that increasingly supports mobile money, internet connectivity and digital services across the country.
The company is turning to renewable energy to reduce that dependence, with solar installations reaching 2,028 network sites by March 2026, up from 1,432 a year earlier. The sites represent 35.7% of its network locations.
The expansion involved converting 596 additional sites to solar power during the financial year, as Safaricom seeks to reduce fuel consumption, limit exposure to diesel price fluctuations and lower emissions from its operations.
However, the transition is not yet translating into lower overall operational emissions. Safaricom’s combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions increased 9.1% to 56,354 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in FY2026, from 51,638 tonnes in the previous financial year.
The figures, contained in the company’s 15th Sustainable Business Report, released on October 27, 2026, illustrate the challenge of decarbonising a growing telecommunications network while maintaining reliable power across thousands of locations. Daily Nation+1
The KSh20 billion green financing strategy
Safaricom’s transition is being supported by one of its largest dedicated sustainability financing initiatives.
The company raised KSh20 billion through its inaugural green notes programme, issued under a KSh40 billion medium-term note programme. The initial KSh15 billion offer attracted applications worth approximately KSh41.6 billion, representing strong investor demand for the debt instrument.
Safaricom subsequently exercised a KSh5 billion greenshoe option, bringing the total amount raised to KSh20 billion.
The proceeds are earmarked for renewable energy projects, energy efficiency improvements and power management initiatives, including investments that support the transition of telecommunications infrastructure towards cleaner energy sources.
The financing gives Safaricom access to capital specifically designated for eligible environmental projects, allowing it to fund infrastructure investments while diversifying its sources of financing.
The green notes also reflect growing interest among investors in financing companies that can demonstrate measurable environmental commitments and transparent sustainability reporting.
However, the KSh20 billion raised should not be confused with the total cost of Safaricom’s green transition. The company has not disclosed a single consolidated figure covering all expenditure on solar installations, batteries, energy management systems, equipment upgrades and other decarbonisation initiatives. ftp.khusoko.com+2
The economics of moving beyond diesel
For Safaricom, the financial case for renewable energy is closely tied to the cost of operating its extensive telecommunications infrastructure.
Network sites require continuous electricity to power transmission equipment, cooling systems and other critical infrastructure. Where grid electricity is unavailable or unreliable, diesel generators provide backup power, creating recurring fuel and maintenance costs.
During FY2026, Safaricom reduced diesel consumption from 10.47 million litres to 10.08 million litres, a reduction of approximately 390,000 litres.
Despite the reduction, the remaining consumption represents an estimated KSh2.3 billion in fuel expenditure.
Solar power offers an opportunity to reduce this recurring expense, particularly at remote sites where reliance on generators can make network operations expensive.
The company has also expanded its use of electricity from Kenya Power. According to the latest reporting, grid electricity accounts for approximately 78% of its energy mix, while solar contributes about 5%, with diesel and other sources accounting for the balance.
This means that despite the expansion of solar installations, the company still relies heavily on conventional electricity and backup generators to maintain network operations.
Safaricom is targeting 3,000 solar-powered network sites by March 2027, which would represent another significant expansion of its renewable energy infrastructure. Daily Nation+1
Rising emissions expose the challenge
The expansion of renewable energy has not yet translated into lower operational emissions.
Safaricom’s Scope 1 emissions increased 12.2% to 33,854 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in FY2026, from approximately 30,160 tonnes in the previous financial year.
Scope 1 emissions cover direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company, including diesel generators and other fuel-consuming equipment.
Scope 2 emissions, which account for indirect emissions from purchased electricity, increased 4.8% to 22,500 tonnes.
Combined, the two categories reached 56,354 tonnes, representing a 9.1% increase.
Diesel generators remain a significant contributor, accounting for almost 80% of Safaricom’s Scope 1 emissions. Refrigerant leaks from cooling systems have also emerged as an increasingly important source of direct emissions.
The increase highlights the difficulty of reducing the environmental footprint of a telecommunications business whose infrastructure requirements continue to expand.
Safaricom’s network must support growing demand for mobile data, digital payments and connectivity, requiring additional power for transmission equipment, cooling systems and supporting infrastructure.
The company therefore faces the challenge of expanding capacity without allowing energy consumption and emissions to increase at the same pace. ftp.khusoko.com+1
A KSh6.43 billion environmental impact
The financial implications of Safaricom’s environmental footprint extend beyond its electricity and diesel bills.
The company’s 2026 Sustainable Business Report estimates that its net environmental value erosion reached KSh6.43 billion in FY2026, compared with KSh2.1 billion in the previous financial year.
The assessment was conducted by Alexforbes and measures the economic value of the company’s environmental impacts, including the social cost associated with carbon emissions.
The figure is not an additional cash expense or a bill paid by Safaricom. Rather, it attempts to quantify the economic consequences of environmental impacts that conventional financial statements may not fully capture.
The report also gave Safaricom a D- rating for its climate action performance under its Sustainable Development Goal assessment.
The assessment suggests that the company’s environmental interventions have yet to outweigh the negative effects of its operational and value-chain emissions.
This presents an important consideration for investors assessing Safaricom’s sustainability commitments: raising green financing and expanding renewable energy infrastructure are important steps, but the ultimate test is whether these investments produce measurable improvements in environmental performance.
The company maintained an A rating from the Carbon Disclosure Project for climate change performance for the second consecutive year, showing that its climate disclosure performance and its operational emissions trajectory are two different measures. econews.co.ke+1
The 2030 renewable energy ambition
Safaricom wants 95% of its telecommunications network powered by green energy by 2030 and plans to increase the number of solar-powered sites to 5,000.
At the end of March 2026, it had converted 2,028 sites, leaving 2,972 more to reach the 2030 target.
The company has acknowledged that its solar rollout progressed more slowly than planned during FY2026 because of contracting delays.
It is now targeting 3,000 solar-powered sites by March 2027, which would require converting another 972 locations.
Safaricom estimates that displacing diesel with renewable energy could generate more than KSh500 million in savings by 2030.
The savings would come from reducing fuel purchases and the associated costs of maintaining diesel-powered infrastructure.
The company is also targeting a 43% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030, using 2017 as its baseline, alongside a 41% reduction in Scope 3 emissions.
Scope 3 covers indirect emissions across the company’s wider value chain, including suppliers and purchased goods and services.
Safaricom has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
However, its latest report indicates that achieving these targets will require faster deployment of renewable energy, improvements in energy efficiency and closer management of emissions across its supply chain. ftp.khusoko.com+2
Beyond solar panels
Safaricom’s environmental strategy also extends to waste management, tree planting and climate resilience.
During FY2026, the company planted 681,284 trees, bringing its cumulative tree-planting total to more than three million across over 3,000 hectares.
It has a longer-term ambition of planting five million trees and restoring 5,000 hectares by 2030.
The company also reported recycling 97% of its solid waste and 100% of its network equipment waste.
Climate resilience is becoming particularly important as telecommunications infrastructure faces growing exposure to extreme weather events.
Safaricom’s assessment identified potential exposure to changing rainfall patterns and flash flooding at more than 80% of the locations examined.
For a company operating thousands of network sites, climate-related disruptions can affect service availability, infrastructure maintenance and the cost of protecting critical equipment.
Its sustainability strategy therefore combines emissions reduction with efforts to protect infrastructure against environmental risks. ftp.khusoko.com+1
The investment test
Safaricom’s KSh20 billion green financing marks a significant step in funding its renewable energy ambitions, but the company’s latest disclosures show that the economics of going green involve more than raising capital and installing solar panels.
The company must balance the cost of new infrastructure against the potential savings from lower diesel consumption, reduced maintenance requirements and improved energy efficiency.
Its KSh2.3 billion annual diesel bill provides a clear indication of the potential financial benefits of reducing dependence on generators. However, the pace at which those savings materialise will depend on how quickly Safaricom can convert its network sites and manage the costs of maintaining renewable energy systems.
The increase in operational emissions also suggests that the company has yet to fully decouple network expansion from its environmental footprint.
For investors, the next few financial years will provide a clearer indication of whether the green financing strategy can deliver both environmental improvements and lower operating costs.
Safaricom’s challenge is no longer simply demonstrating its commitment to sustainability. It is proving that the billions being channelled into renewable energy can make its network cheaper to operate, more resilient and less carbon-intensive.
The real measure of its green transition will ultimately be whether the company can keep Kenya connected while spending less on fossil fuels and producing fewer emissions.