Safaricom Announces Ksh 13 Million East African Safari Classic Rally Sponsorship

Safaricom has announced a KES 13 million sponsorship of the ninth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally under its M-PESA Global brand. The amount will support operations, logistics and communication during the rally which will take place between November 27th and December 6th 2019. The rally is set to cover more than 4,500 kilometres in Kenya and Tanzania over nine days.

“Our sponsorship of this ninth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally underlines our continued commitment to support and nurture talent through sport. With races in Kenya and Tanzania and a roster of drivers from around the world, the rally provides an opportunity to empower more customers through our M-PESA Global service,” said Michael Joseph, CEO, Safaricom.

The East African Classic Safari Rally has been running every two years since 2003 and is open to two-wheel drive, naturally aspirated rally cars built before 1985. The race aims to showcase the beauty of the East African landscape with vehicles racing through world-famous game parks, with overnight stops at the region’s finest lodges and hotels.

“The ninth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally saw us evaluate more than 12,000 kilometres of roads resulting in an intense and exciting route selection for this year’s rally. We are glad to have M-PESA Global on board as our main sponsor as this will help us attract a wide range of local and global talent,” said Raju Kishinani, Chairman, East African Safari Classic Rally.

The rally will begin at Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa, Kenya and run for four days in Kenya, before crossing over to Tanzania where stages will run across four days, with a finish in Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa, Kenya. Competitors are set to cover approximately 500 kilometres every day in competitive stages of between 50 km and 160 km.

Some of the teams that have already confirmed participation include, Tuthill Porsche, Freestone Rally Services, Minti Motorsport Oman, Team Tido Race 4 Health, ALS Motorsport and Safari World Africa.

Entries remain open to 9th October 2019 and can be downloaded on https://www.eastafricansafarirally.com/safari-classic-rally-2019-noticeboard/

Launched in December 2018, M-PESA Global empowers the more than 22.6 million M-PESA customers in Kenya to send and receive money from anyone across the world. Safaricom M-PESA customers in Kenya and Vodacom M-PESA customers in Tanzania can also send money directly to each other through the service, which can be accessed through *840# or the mySafaricom App.