Did you know that in 2016 in a joint effort to share a vision for the future generation, 193 global leaders held a conference on sustainable development and set up 17 sustainable goals? Well, after the meeting, each country was to implement these goals and Lesotho isn’t an exception. Lesotho’s Vodacom company value humanity and in this process the company is trying to achieve goal 13 of the 17 sustainable development goals. According to the Vodafone-owned mobile operator in Lesotho, it’s estimated that both wind and solar power 86 base stations out of 300. The adoption of “green” base stations reduces the emission of carbon in the air.
Vodacom recently launched the biggest green building in Maseru Lesotho. According to Rishaad Tayob, the MD of Vodacom Lesotho, the unique energy saving technology in Lesotho ensures that the base stations don’t depend on diesel or the national power grid, therefore, reducing the company’s operational costs. Consequently, the benefits are transferred to the customers. Besides, the headquarters at Maseru are covered with solar panels which are renewable sources of energy making it environmentally friendly.
The Vodacom Group had initially launched a green building in South Africa in 2012, in Midrand, Johannesburg, so the Miseru building comes second. The anticipation of many is that soon another building will be launched elsewhere in a bid for a sustainable environment. The company invested M80 million for the building in Lesotho, and it intends to take the leading role in Lesotho’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The company is working hand in hand with other global supporters of the sustainable environment to minimize greenhouse gas emission which leads to global warming. Therefore, Vodacom is using all means possible to reduce any operation of the company that emits greenhouse gases and from the statistics, a quarter of its cell phone operations is powered by the ‘green’ base stations.
Following the same trend of providing the sustainable environment for the future generation in Lesotho is power system optimization. The system minimizes the use of diesel by ensuring that in case there’s power failure, a traditional site operating on stored battery keeps the system working.
Vodacom’s building in Lesotho is part of the mission they share of encouraging recycling and separation of wastes in offices and promoting telecommunication while reducing carbon emission. The reliance on solar by the building will cut down the cost of electricity and make the public aware of alternatives that can be used to make the world a better place.
