Telenor publishes Global Impact Report

Telenor has today published its Global Impact Report, quantifying the company’s socioeconomic impact. The report was compiled by KPMG, and shows that Telenor contributed an estimated USD 20.3 billion towards economic growth (measured in terms of Gross Value Added ) across its 13 markets in 2015.

Published: 6 December 2016

Telenor’s Global Impact Report quantifies the company’s commitment to support and contribute to the communities in which it operates.

“In Telenor we believe that connected societies are empowered societies. In a changing digital landscape, it is imperative that governments, businesses, and organisations work together to develop frameworks that stimulate growth and create shared value. This report aims to contribute to a constructive dialogue on how we can continue realizing the value and the opportunity of our digital future,” says Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of Telenor Group.

Digital inclusion is also in line with Telenor’s commitment towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and specifically Goal 10: Reduced inequalities. The Global Impact Report sheds light on how Telenor’s operations contribute towards this goal.

Telenor commissioned KPMG to conduct an independent study assessing a number of the economic and social impacts Telenor has across the 13 markets in which it directly operates.

The economic framework applied to assess these impacts captures a wide range of different effects, both direct and indirect. They show how Telenor contributes to the economy as a company, as well as the wider impacts generated through the use of Telenor’s services by its business and consumer subscribers.

The socio-economic effects captured in this study were categorized into four key areas:

• Telenor’s contribution to macro-economic growth, including its contribution to GVA, its employment impact, its investment and its role in contributing to public finances
• The ways in which Telenor’s services enable the wider economy, including the impacts on digital inclusion, financial inclusion, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation and supporting improved gender equality;
• Telenor’s impacts in terms of sustainability in the supply chain; and
• Telenor’s contribution in crisis situations.

Telenor Group’s Global Impact Report also includes individual details of the socioeconomic contributions of each of Telenor’s 13 business units around the world.

Key findings for 2015:

• GROSS VALUE ADDED (GVA): $20.3 billion in GVA across its 13 markets. Of this, an estimated $10.7 billion was generated in Europe and $9.6 billion in Asia.
• EMPLOYMENT: Telenor generated an estimated total of 1.2 million direct, indirect and induced jobs in the global economy, of which 1.1 million were in Asia. For every 1 job that Telenor created directly, an additional 33 indirect and induced jobs were created within the wider economies of Telenor’s 13 markets of operation.
• INVESTMENT: Telenor’s total investment was $3.2 billion, including $3.1 billion of capital expenditure.
• FISCAL CONTRIBUTIONS: $11.7 billion comprising of contributions made directly, through the supply chain and induced economic activity, and through employees.
• DIGITAL INCLUSION: $8.0 billion estimated net GDP contribution through greater digital access (2G and the shift to 3G and 4G) between 2014 and 2015.
• FINANCIAL INCLUSION: 11.8 million subscribers accessed financial transactions via mobile. $27.6 billion in financial transactions using Telenor’s network, including mobile and over the counter transactions via Telenor’s own financial services, such as EasyPaisa.
• GENDER: 13,000 women were directly employed by Telenor in 2015 (36% of Telenor’s workforce). $3.1 billion of the estimated $8.0 billion net GDP contribution through greater digital access between 2014 and 2015 was attributed specifically to increased digital access for female subscribers.
• SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY: 2.1 million employees benefitting from working for companies with high standards of labour rights and working conditions, following Telenor’s supply chain sustainability policy

i Gross Value Added, or GVA, is the measure of the contribution to the economy of an individual producer, industry or sector, net of intermediate consumption. A nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the sum of the GVA of all economic agents in the economy, plus taxes less subsidies. ii Direct jobs are those in Telenor Group itself; indirect jobs are those generated through Telenor’s supply chain as a result of its purchasing of goods and services; and induced jobs are those generated in the economy as a result of the additional economic activity arising from direct and indirect employees spending a proportion of their earnings.