We create sustainable value by building consumer internet companies that address big societal needs – they improve people’s everyday lives and enrich the communities they serve. We back local entrepreneurs, providing the funds and support they need to help them grow and achieve their dreams. Our local focus combined with our global scale means the companies we operate and invest in are able to deliver far-reaching impact.

Sustainability is at the core of what we do. Our focus on digital platforms helps to keep our environmental impact light, while enabling newer, smarter and greener ways to serve the world’s every day needs. 
 

Our approach     

We are a global group operating and investing in consumer internet companies in around 100 markets across the world. We own companies outright and we also invest in companies, with varying holdings from small minority stakes to majority stakes.

To maximise the positive impact we can have on the world, we apply good governance and a clear-sighted assessment of our group. A comprehensive materiality assessment informs the priorities we set.
 

Material areas

Business
Business culture, ethics and integrity: Communicating our purpose, goals and values effectively and translating those in our activities, operations and engagement with our business partners
 
Financial performance: Generating financial value and returns by building successful, profitable consumer internet businesses that serve people’s everyday needs.
 
Responsible investments: investing in entrepreneurs and companies that align well with our high standards for good governance and environmental and social impact.
 
Environmental
Climate: Embedding consideration for the environment within operations and investment decisions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy use and mitigate the effects of long-term changes on the Earth’s climate and the world’s population
 
Social
People: Enabling fair employment and upholding high standards for the way we lead and manage our people
 
Customer centricity: Putting the experience, safety, and satisfaction of our customers at the heart of our companies
 
Technology
Artificial intelligence (AI): Innovation and deployment of ethical and responsible AI and machine learning
 
Data privacy: developing and upholding the right policies and control frameworks to keep our businesses’, our customers’ and our people’s data safe
 
Digital inclusion: Enabling equal access to critical digital networks and technology
 
Cyber-resilience: Building resilient, sustainable platforms and governance that enable our business and detect and respond to threats
 
Innovation: building innovative technology to create new ways of improving people’s everyday lives
 
You can find more on our approach and performance in each area in our Integrated Annual Report.
Our companies and associates have varying influences on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues due to the broad spectrum of sectors and geographies in which we operate and invest. We hold board seats in many of the companies across the group and our board members represent our philosophy on those boards.
 
We engage on specific ESG topics, setting up communities where best practice is shared. We also make training accessible to both majority and minority interest businesses in the group.
 
At a Naspers level, we set high standards and expectations, prioritising our focus on topics that are material to our stakeholders.
 
We work closely with our controlled investees (generally companies in which we hold a majority stake) together to ensure they reflect our own principles on topics material to their business and operations.
 
Our non-controlled investees are accountable and responsible for their own ESG performance but we encourage them to adopt appropriate standards.
   

 

Our core segments

We pursue growth by building leading companies that empower people and enrich communities, across our core focus segments of Classifieds, Food Delivery, Payments and Fintech, plus other online businesses including Etail. And we are looking to capitalise on the next wave of growth through our Ventures arm: with effect from 1 April 2021, the Group will report on a new core segment, Edtech (which covers online education).  
 
From food delivery to classifieds, we invest in and build online platforms where small and medium businesses can reach their customers online, often for the first time.

 

Sustainability governance

 

The board oversees and is ultimately responsible for sustainability in the group.  The risk committee and the sustainability committee assist the board in discharging this responsibility, including monitoring progress against the board approved sustainability plan. 
 

The CEO and the executive management team decide on the development and execution of the sustainability strategy. The global head of sustainability drives the identification of sustainability risk and opportunities and the implementation of the sustainability plan across the group. The global head of sustainability reports to the group general counsel, a member of the executive management team, who reports to the CEO. Sustainability champions across the businesses are responsible for the implementation of various sustainability initiatives in the businesses.