Microsoft saw the potential of greening African telecoms long before incumbent players. 

• Eight years ago it funded Kenyan startup Mawingu to power data networks using solar panels. The company keeps expanding, having raised $9 million last year.

Catching up: Now the rest of the continent’s telecoms sector is starting to pay attention. 

• A week ago, Vantage Capital invested $66 million in Camusat, the telco service provider, to “boost telecom infrastructure and green solutions in Africa”.

Why it matters: The carbon footprint of African smartphones exceeds that of the US (see chart above and data). 

• This is based on an estimated 63 kg of CO2 over a phone’s lifecycle, including manufacturing, use and disposal in Africa, versus 85 kg in developed countries.

• Africa’s largest economies rank only just below the top European nations in terms of CO2 from phones. 

High urgency: Telecoms in Africa is about to undergo another growth spurt. 

• A data centre boom on the continent will further increase telco’s power hunger. 

• AI and cryptocurrencies are contributing to the expansion. 

• ChatGPT uses approximately 10 times the energy of a standard Google search. 

• The Boston Consulting Group says telecoms generates 7% of global emissions. 

Old school: By some measures, telecoms in Africa is even more carbon-intensive than in developed nations. 

• Diesel generators rather than grids power most African mobile towers. 

• The continent has about half a million towers and base stations. 

• Fleets of trucks deliver fuel to most of them on a weekly basis.  

• Nigerian towers consume 40 million litres of diesel per month.

There’s more: Much fossil fuel is also spent on manufacturing and later disposing of mobile phones as well as network equipment. 

• Most electronic components must be replaced every three to four years. 

In the spotlight: Major African telcos are not trying to hide their climate relevance. 

• MTN reported emitting 5,236,608 tons of CO2 as early as 2021. In 2023, it reported reducing CO2 emissions by 9,672 tons.

Help needed: A gaggle of green service providers is gathering around industry giants.  

• Telecom energy service companies (TESCOs) facilitate renewable options.

• Nairobi-based REGID offers decentralised biomass power solutions for towers.

• Chinese giant Huawei partners with Telecom Egypt on green towers.

• The IFC has put money towards more such solutions. 

Wallet vote: Experts say going green will save telcos money in the long term. 

• Renewable sources are capital-intensive but lower operational costs. 

• Participation in carbon markets may be a profitable possibility too. 

• Plus, many African governments are phasing out fuel subsidies. 

More opportunities: Countries with strong renewables may even attract new cash.

• Microsoft is investing $1 billion in a geothermal-powered data centre that will host 4 million computer servers in Kenya, a country of 50 million people.

2. Cheat sheet: Four green telco solutions

(i) Artificial intelligence: Safaricom adopted Nokia’s AVA Radio Energy Efficiency software, which utilises AI to automatically shut down idle equipment during low usage periods.

(ii) Internet of Things:  Yetu Smart Grids helps monitor tower energy usage during peak hours, reducing strain on the grid and minimising upgrades.