The Africell Impact Foundation’s 2024 annual report highlights work in arts, education and healthcare undertaken over the past year.
In an essay written for the report, Africell’s CEO, President and Founder Ziad Dalloul reflects on achievements over the past year and what can be expected in 2025.
In 2025, Africell will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
Since we first launched services in 2001, we have witnessed a huge amount of change. Most obviously, levels of digital development in Africa have soared. In the early 2000s, Africa was significantly behind the rest of the world in the uptake of mobile technology. But that gap has shrunk. Indeed, in some areas (such as mobile money), Africa is now a crucible of innovation. Africell is proud to have played a part in this progress.
This has been part of a broader evolution. A quarter of a century ago, many international businesses viewed Africa warily. They vaguely understood that it was a region with enormous potential but were deterred by negative news stories and apparently high barriers to entry. This view has since been corrected. Africa is now a magnet for international investors. Businesses in many sectors rightly see Africa’s population of almost two billion people as an essential audience to tap into.
These changes have been accompanied by another, subtler shift. In the past, the concept of “social impact” in the African context was linked to ideas of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The phrase would have conjured images of well-meaning foreigners coming to Africa on flying visits to work on specific projects and then leaving again. Social impact was not viewed as an integral part of the economic development process: as a vital consideration in, and a valuable result of, ordinary growth and investment.
Today, that has flipped. Many people recognise that the same forces that create jobs, support livelihoods, delight customers and drive innovation can improve the lives of people in other ways: by helping to sustain culture, by promoting creativity, by improving mental and physical wellbeing, and by spreading the advantages of education. Selling products and making profits is entirely compatible with creating wider benefits for communities and the environment. Africell sees these goals as complementary part of the same mission.
In Africell’s 25th year, we are focusing more single-mindedly than ever on integrating social impact into our work. Our core telecommunications operations have a direct impact on the millions of our customers who get to benefit from the extraordinary tools that their mobile phones provide. Meanwhile, the Africell Impact Foundation is using the framework of its ‘impact areas’ to ensure that all our decision-making includes broader social considerations, so that – in addition to Africell being a successful business on its own terms – we can truthfully and proudly say that we are helping to create more joyful, creative and connected societies.
To us, social impact is about creating beautiful content that shines a unique light on our operating markets. It is about bringing the best international institutions to Africa and the best African talent to the world. It is about drawing global attention to Africa’s artistic wealth and giving African artists an opportunity to explore new places. It is about giving disadvantaged young people a platform to learn, earn, and transform their lives.
Although the Africell Impact Foundation itself was only launched in 2022, its spirit and values are inherited from the company we started two decades before. The Foundation represents the natural development of our approach, not a change in approach. 2024 was a successful year, but I’m thrilled to say that 2025 – Africell’s twenty-fifth anniversary – is shaping up to be the best and most impactful yet.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT