From time immemorial, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a life-changing phenomenon for millions of people around the world. Companies have tapped into various fields and helped to educate, nurture, and uplift communities.
Traditionally, Corporate Social Responsibility is broken down into four main categories – environmental, philanthropic, ethical, and economic responsibility. Kenya has not been left behind in promoting its importance in each of these fields. In most cases, it is viewed as a necessary, but voluntary commitment. We have seen companies go out of their way to help in the upbringing of society to reach greater heights. Through sponsorships, companies have helped to nurture the talents of people in sports, arts, music, and various other fields.
Safaricom’s musical project – The Safaricom Youth Orchestra is one that we cannot forget when discussing sponsorships and the wonderful impact that it has had and continues to have on Kenya’s musical industry. The music ensemble brings together talented young musicians from all walks of life in the country. Launched by the late CEO Bob Collymore, it is made of young musicians whose talent spun across four groups of musical instruments; woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. In a country where less emphasis is placed on such talents, this orchestra and the Ghetto Classics has served as the bridging gap and the pathway to success in the musical field for many young people. Many of the young people in Ghetto Classics and Safaricom Youth Orchesta have gone on to do great things like George Ndungu. Thanks To The Safaricom Youth Orchestra, George Ndungu Has Been Able To Learn And Teach People To Play The Oboe Instrument
#SafaricomJazz: Meet Some of The Upcoming Young Musicians At Ghetto Classics
This isn’t to say that education is not a priority, not at all. In fact, Safaricom has, over the years, shown interest in helping people, and more so the less privileged to gain access to quality education. Just recently, Safaricom was involved in solving the dilemma in Turkana: to fish or to study. With fishing being a lucrative economic activity in Lobolo village, many opt out of school, a path that is more likely to lead them out of their current circumstances. In partnership with Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) which was implemented by Zizi Afrique Foundation, Safaricom seeks to improve the lives of disadvantaged school-going children by increasing access to equitable and innovative educational opportunities.
The M-PESA Foundation Academy is another great example of how Safaricom has helped to uplift society in terms of education. Driven by leadership, entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation, the Academy serves talented but economically disadvantaged students with demonstrated leadership potential.
But that’s not all. Safaricom has also been involved in nurturing sports talents among people in the country. They recently rolled out a national golf series dubbed the Safaricom Golf Tour. Its aim is to tap, nurture and grow talent among young golfers across the country. As you may already be aware, golf is a great sport that reduces stress and promotes the mental well-being of a person. It teaches skills such as alertness and aids with weight loss. For this and many other reasons, it is a beautiful thing for Safaricom to actually promote this wonderful sport among the young ones.
Safaricom’s series will include junior competitions, youth clinics, and golf outreach programmes. These will be run in partnership with the Junior Golf Foundation and Kenya Golf Union. The tour will also feature a caddies’ tournament in partnership with the Kenya National Caddies Association.
The CEO Peter Ndegwa emphasized that sports sponsorship is an important area for Safaricom because of its role in transforming the lives of Kenyans, especially the youth. He expressed that the goal with the Safaricom Golf Tour is to provide a platform that seeks to demystify the game, which has long been seen as a sport for the elite and position it as one that is accessible for all. The young golfers we nurture and develop have an opportunity to become the next generation of pros in the future and earn from their passion. They hope and expect the armature series to continue improving in the future and eventually Kenya will put up a player in the 2028 Olympic games.
As part of their decision to nurture golf as talent among the youth, Safaricom will pour in KES 100 million for this inaugural edition of the tour. It will be played in various golf clubs across the country starting at the Nanyuki Sports Club on the 29th and 30th of January.
