Safaricom announces KES 15 million sponsorship toward the 2023 Rhino Charge competition

23 May 2023

The funds will support the activities of the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust, which is in line with the telco’s conservation initiative.

Nairobi, Kenya – 23^rd May 2023…  The Rhino Charge competition, which supports the activities of the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust, has today received KES 15 million sponsorship from telecommunication company Safaricom.

M-PESA Foundation has also committed to support restoration of Kakamega Forest through the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust and its partners who aim to raise funds to preserve our ecosystems, bio-diversity and livelihoods through environmental conservation.

This year’s competition will take place on 3^rd June in Laikipia County. The event has attracted a field of 65 rally drivers, with legendary Kenyan rally driver Ian Duncan and his team ‘KTM Cruisers’ expected to take part in the competition. Other notable drivers taking part in the challenge include defending champion Sean Avery with his Car No 38 (Bundufundi), Peter Kinyua of Car No 23, Adil Khawaja of Car No 44, Eddy Verbeek of Car No. 1, Ravi Patel of Frying Squad, and John Bowden of Gumtree 4X4 Car 9 among others.

“As a business, we are committed to becoming a net zero-emitting company by 2050. To achieve this, we have several initiatives in place including a plan to plant five million trees across the country by 2025 in partnership with Kenya Forest Service (KFS), which we estimate will offset 26% of our emissions. The KES 15 million sponsorship further reaffirms our unwavering support for the annual Rhino Charge competition. Part of this sponsorship will support Car No.44 led by Adil Khawaja,” said Mr. Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO.

Safaricom continues to collaborate with other entities to find long-term, sustainable solutions to the conservation issues faced by mountain forest ecosystems and other regions of important biodiversity.

So far in partnership with local communities and Kenya Forest Services (KFS), Safaricom has planted 1.3 million trees, and restored 1,300 ha of degraded government forests land since 2018 across the country. The company also recently signed a collaboration framework with Kenya Forest Services geared towards growing five million trees in public forest reserves through an ‘adopt-a-forest’ strategy. The framework commits to the reforestation, protection, and conservation of 5,000 hectares to support efforts of achieving 30% national forest cover.