2022 Sustainable Business Report

76 | SAFARICOM SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS REPORT 2022 KPI SUMMARY OUR MATERIAL TOPICS OUR BUSINESS OUR STAKEHOLDERS SAFARICOM PLC INITIATIVES The initiatives set out on the following pages take place under the auspices of Safaricom PLC. SAFARICOM WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY (WIT) Our Women in Technology (WIT) programmes aim to help the next generation of students and youth onboard, build and retain women in STEM careers. This is achieved through six key programmes aimed at reaching out to the girl child at various stages of her education cycle by continuously providing support through coaching, mentorship, exposure to evolving technologies, technical platforms and networks. • The Kids-Go-Tech initiative strategically engages children in science-based experiments using interactive kits to simulate real world applications. Despite the challenges of a long school break related to COVID-19, WIT partnered with Code Yetu Kids and successfully executed a virtual session for kids focusing on Agile for kids which is based on the Agile methodology we are currently employing; Scratch (a programming language); making art, web development and the MIT app inventor, a tool that facilitates easy app creation while teaching computational fundamentals. • Through the 47/47 High School programme we reach out to 47 schools in each of the 47 counties, inviting one school per county or a one-day workshop at our regional Safaricom offices. The young girls attending are shown the technical basics to spark their interest for the science-based courses and are also mentored and counselled on various life issues affecting them at this stage by the WIT champions. • The Tech-novation Challenge targets high school girls aged 14 to 18 who submit apps addressing identified community problems. This usually spans over four months of team formation, intense research, business proposal, coding and presentations at various judging stages. All this is done under rigorous coaching and mentoring of the students by tech-novation coaches (volunteer individuals obtained via other WIT programmes). One of the teams was recognised on International Youth Day by UNESCO, showcasing the Kazi kwa Wote app to connect youth in Kibera to jobs. • WIT’s campus outreach programme ensures women are on track for employment viability, growth into management and have the necessary skills in place to maintain a work-life balance in STEM professions. Under the programme in FY22, there were 10 webinars which had average attendance of 370 students from 36 universities across Kenya. The programme is helping to create a talent pool and promote Safaricom's growth as a brand. • The WIT Technology Academy programme provides added value internship for a period of three months through placement within various teams in Safaricom PLC based on the skillsets required and offered. • The WIT internal & networking programme provides a platform from which women can build their professional networks and which provides work/life support.