Zain KSA’s MSCI ESG Index Rating Upgraded to ‘A’,

Zain KSA continues to demonstrate its excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance practices in Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications sector, recently achieving an ‘A’ rating on the MSCI ESG Index.

Zain KSA’s improved rating on the index, from ‘BBB’ to ‘A’, reflects the significance of the company’s initiatives, programs, and practices within the framework of environmental and social responsibility and effective governance. This comes as part of Zain KSA’s solid commitment to spreading an organization-wide ESG culture, embedding ESG performance indicators across its operational, financial, and administrative levels and throughout all departments and divisions.

Commenting on the achievement, Eng. Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Deghaither, CEO of Zain KSA, stated, "Zain KSA’s new (A) rating in the MSCI ESG Index reflects our robust sustainability strategy and our commitment to our role and responsibility in achieving economic, social, and human development in the Kingdom, contributing to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. Translating our environmental sustainability plans into action, we recently launched the world’s first zero-carbon 5G network, in partnership with Red Sea Global. We also emphasized our commitment to social development through several partnerships, including our collaboration with the Family Safety Program as part of the Child Helpline project, in addition to our partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources to train 50,000 young men and women from all over the Kingdom. Our most prominent achievements in governance were demonstrated through our rigorous financial and administrative practices, which have contributed to enhancing our profitability and improved our market position. This upgraded rating is a true indication  of how our corporate sustainability strategy perfectly aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."

The MSCI ESG Index is a world-leading provider of ESG indicators. The index involves more than 1,500 indicators designed to provide institutional investors with effective tools to integrate ESG considerations in their investment process and portfolios by measuring performance and reporting on ESG mandates.It is worth mentioning that Zain achieved an advanced rating in Management Scope ‘A-’ in the Carbon ‎Disclosure Project (CDP), a ‎classification for companies that ‎disclose information on the ‎environmental impact of their initiatives ‎and operations after meeting the CDP standards.