Championing Africa’s sustainable future through innovation and exemplary e-waste management

Climate change is currently the most pressing global issue due to its devastating effects on all aspects of human life. Health and wellbeing, wildlife, agriculture, ecosystems, and energy are all at risk of being affected by this global challenge.

There is, therefore, an urgent need for a radical shift; one that will help us reduce the impact of climate change. While setting global targets and measuring progress at the United Nations’ annual Climate Conference of the Parties (COP), and the Biodiversity Conference are indeed great steps, it will take the concerted efforts of the private sector and governments, as well as advanced sustainable innovations, to shift the needle.

At Ericsson, we believe that Information Communications Technology (ICT) is a critical piece in this process and has a role to play in helping sub-Saharan Africa achieve its climate targets. Our research on ICT’s potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 revealed that ICT solutions have a high potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 15 percent.

We are keenly pursuing our ambition to reduce global warming by achieving a Net Zero emission status across our value chain by 2040. We have made steady progress, and we are confident that we will hit our first major milestone of cutting emissions by 50% in the supply chain and portfolio by 2030.

Ericsson strives to develop, sell and deliver hardware, software, services and solutions with excellent sustainability performance and contributes to the sustainable development of society. Our Enterprise offerings support other industrial sectors, such as energy, manufacturing, and transportation, in their transition towards a lowcarbon economy.

We are also leading with technological innovations that will help reduce network energy usage. These include solutions that allow operator networks to use as little energy as possible while handling the expected growth in data traffic and meeting the needs of both current and future 5G networks.

As we move toward 2025, Ericsson believes it is possible to scale up 5G, while simultaneously aiming to break the rising energy consumption curve. We have streamlined our approach into three core elements; plan differently with a focus on a sustainable network evolution; deploy differently by effectively modernizing the existing network when scaling 5G; and operate differently by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and automation.

Our sustainability drive is backed by a strategy that ensures we take pragmatic steps to dispose of e-waste responsibly. Equipment from the technology and telecommunications industries, in the end, becomes e-waste and contributes to global climate issues. If not properly disposed of, components in waste electronic equipment can lead to environmental consequences, such as an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to other environmental impacts including harm to biodiversity.

According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a record 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was generated around the world in 2019, and it is predicted that the annual generation of ewaste will reach 74.7 Mt by 2030.

Through our Product Take-Back (PTB) management program, we work with our customers to recycle waste electrical and electronic equipment in accordance with the law and high environmental standards.

We have decommissioned equipment at no cost to over 40 customers, covering 28 countries across Africa. Approximately 8,271 tonnes of waste electronic and electrical equipment was taken back from Er- icsson’s operating countries from January 2012 to August 2022, of which approximately 98% was successfully recycled.

Additionally, we know that high reuse and recycling rates start with smart product design, so we make responsible material choices, increase our use of recycled materials, and design products that enable efficient recycling.

As global and business leaders, civil society groups, and scientists continue to tackle the climate change agenda, we must all understand our critical role in securing a sustainable and safer future for generations. Thinking that environmental sustainability is another person’s responsibility will mean a complete failure. For me, this is a crucial lesson we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are all responsible for our future.

Sustainability is a key component of our #AfricainMotion campaign, which we launched a couple of years ago to empower a sustainable and connected Africa. We will continue to enable sustainable growth, economic development and open opportunities for all across the continent. This is a promise!

The allure of Europe prevails in 2023, with European residence and citizenship by investment programs retaining the top spots in Henley & Partners’ latest rankings of the most sought-after investment migration programs in the world.

Malta secures 1st place in the Global Citizenship Program Index for the eighth consecutive year, while the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Program again tops the Global Residence Program Index.

The two indexes — published in the 2023 edition of the Investment Migration Programs report, which is published annually by Henley & Partners — offer a systematic analysis and comprehensive benchmarking of the world’s most important residence and citizenship by investment programs, providing the gold standard in the sector.

This year’s edition includes comprehensive analyses and comparisons of 40 programs, which have been appraised by a panel of distinguished independent experts including leading academic researchers, country risk specialists, economists, independent expert immigration and citizenship lawyers, and other specialists, who consider a broad range of pertinent factors.

Interactive digital comparisons of the programs are also available, enabling global investors and wealthy families to select what matters most to them when weighing up their options.

Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, international immigration and citizenship law expert and Chairman of Henley & Partners, says Investment Migration Programs 2023 is essential for all those interested in keeping up to date with developments in the investment migration sector or considering residence or citizenship by investment as options for accessing new opportunities.

“The publication is important not only for private clients and their advisors and other industry professionals, but also for government policy makers looking to manage investment migration programs to achieve greater fiscal autonomy and economic growth. In this time of extreme volatility, nation states are using residence and citizenship by investment programs as an innovative financing tool to allocate investors’ funds to national or regional social, infrastructure, and development projects that benefit their citizens and residents.”