Safaricom Foundation, the philanthropic arm of leading Kenyan telecom company Safaricom, has launched its new 2023-2026 strategy, titled “Partnering to Enhance Equity.” The strategy is aimed at boosting community investments in education, health, and economic empowerment, leveraging technology and partnerships to deliver sustainable and impactful projects.
The launch of the new strategy follows the successful implementation of Safaricom Foundation’s previous 2018-2021 strategy, which positively impacted over 4 million people through more than 2,000 community projects.
The Foundation will incorporate ICT, sustainable philanthropy, and humanitarian response as primary components for executing projects that are impactful and long-lasting in addressing pressing community needs and concerns, as per the new strategy.
In a bid to achieve its set objectives, Safaricom Foundation aims to enhance its community involvement by forming partnerships that are in line with Safaricom’s vision of changing people’s lives. Additionally, for the first time, the Foundation will take advantage of financial assistance from its partners to generate mutual benefits for more sustainable initiatives.
According to the Chairman of Safaricom Foundation, Joseph Ogutu, the success of their new strategy will depend heavily on partnerships, technology, and community involvement. To ensure that the benefits of their programmes endure, the Foundation has included sustainable philanthropy as a crucial component, enabling communities to continue thriving long after the completion of their initiatives.
In the education sector, the Safaricom Foundation aims to enhance teacher and learner skills by integrating digital skills, leading to better academic outcomes. Additionally, the Foundation plans to improve young people’s access to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) through the creation of TVET centers of excellence, provision of scholarships, and offering apprenticeships to graduates. To increase their employability, graduates will also receive necessary tools and training.
The Safaricom Foundation has included adolescent health in the health pillar due to an upsurge in the need for high-quality reproductive services. The pillar is also set to enhance the Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, and Adolescent Health initiative (RMNCAH) to augment the capacity of national, county, and community health systems. Besides, the Foundation will incorporate screening for non-communicable diseases to facilitate early detection, treatment, and management. Technology will play a vital role in identifying the number of expectant mothers in high-burden counties and raising awareness of health interventions.
To harness the potential of the youth, the economic empowerment pillar will have entrepreneurship programs, job creation, and innovative affordable financing. This will be achieved through agribusiness, ecopreneurship, and enterprise development. Using technology, the Foundation will boost learning in good agricultural practices and agribusiness management as well as support innovations geared towards providing ICT solutions to agribusiness management for startups.
According to Peter Ndegwa, the CEO of Safaricom, the new 2023-2026 strategy for Safaricom Foundation will heavily rely on technology to enhance efficiency and expand its impact across the three pillars. He further added that by the end of the strategy period in 2026, Safaricom Foundation aims to demonstrate that technological interventions can make a significant difference in the community.