As reported by the Punch newspaper, Airtel, one of Nigeria’s top telecommunications companies, spent a staggering ₦28 billion on buying diesel.
As a result, the company is looking to adopt the use of solar energy as a more affordable way to power its telecommunications infrastructure.
This was revealed by the company’s Director of Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility, during a media roundtable in Lagos on Tuesday, pointing to its company records in May.
As well as reducing operational expenses, the move is intended to foster sustainability as it confronts Nigeria’s ongoing energy troubles.
As indicated by Harmanpreet Dhillon, Chief Technical Officer of Airtel Nigeria, the organization is currently looking at solar power and other alternative energy sources.
Additionally, Airtel Africa’s customer base in Nigeria also grew by 7.8% to 59.8 million, while its mobile money customer base grew by 19% to 36.5 million.
This was despite the challenges posed by the naira devaluation, and its steep diesel expenditure.
“Despite the challenges of rising diesel prices in Nigeria, we aim to limit the impact with continued operational leverage and further cost efficiencies to deliver an improved EBITDA margin in FY’24 versus FY’23,” Olusegun Ogunsanya, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, said at the time
