Safaricom - 2021 Sustainable Business Report

68 SAFARICOM SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS REPORT 2021 / STANDING TOGETHER: GOING BEYOND / OUR MATERIAL TOPICS //// OUR STAKEHOLDERS / KPI SUMMARY SAFARICOM AND M-PESA FOUNDATIONS: PERCENTAGE SPEND AND BENEFICIARIES BY FOCUS AREA FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 Spend Lives Spend Lives Spend Lives Spend Lives Health 24% 245 507 27% 88 246 40% 367 641 22% 633 284 Education 28% 46 076 52% 51 413 52% 106 208 65% 397 818 Economic empowerment 36% - 14% 5 415 5% 14 555 3% 155 000 Disaster response 1% 300 2% 5 000 - 495 9% 13 800 Environment 2% 72 500 0% 5 000 2% - 1% 47 226 EDUCATION In 2018, the World Bank ranked Kenya the top African country for education outcomes (1st out of 43 mainland countries). Nevertheless, there are still certain educational gaps which our Foundations strive to fill. SAFARICOM FOUNDATION EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES • The Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) is a partnership between the Zizi Afrique and Safaricom Foundations. The programme is being implemented in Bungoma, Turkana and Tana River counties and aims to support learners lagging behind to acquire foundational literacy and numeracy skills within a short period of time. To achieve this, ALP has deployed both low and high- end technology: - Low-tech: Radio programmes are used during periods of school closure as a strategy to foster continued learning at home as well as enhance parental involvement. - In Bungoma, the programme is piloting the use of 1 200 tablets for improved numeracy and literacy levels. The tablets are loaded with Ministry of Education content and are accessible for children to learn in groups. To date, the programme has impacted 6 966 learners. • An analysis by the Kenya Higher Education Loans Board shows that technical skills are in high demand, with employability standing at 96% for people with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) . Safaricom Foundation’s TVET programme – launched in FY20 – focuses on plumbing, welding, food and beverage and electrical engineering. Under the programme, the Foundation opened a new and improved ICT-enabled skills centre at the Waithaka Vocational Training Centre in Nairobi. The institution was refurbished at a cost of KSh 28 million including modern ICT equipment for the computer lab together with equipment for the plumbing, welding, electrical engineering and the food and beverage departments. In addition, scholarships were provided to over 700 students across various TVET institutions in the country. The centre in Waithaka will see 200 students supported over the next two years with the remaining 500 spread across 11 other institutions. M-PESA FOUNDATION EDUCATION Many girls are not able to access menstrual hygiene products with statistics indicating that 65% of women and girls in Kenya cannot afford them while 42% of school-going girls have never used sanitary pads. This impacts on educational outcomes: Statistics indicate that girls miss 13 learning days in a term when they miss four days a month because of their periods. For the second year running, the M-PESA Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, operated a Keeping Girls in School initiative to support girls’ education and ensure that they live in dignity. This programme saw three months’ supply of sanitary towels distributed to over 180 000 girls in public schools across the country.