(KEN MACHARIA) – Kenyan telcos, Safaricom and Orange, have been honored for launching innovative services at the AfricaCom awards held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Safaricom was one of the only two companies in Africa to clinch a double out of the eleven awards on offer.
The integrated communications firm took home the ‘Best ICT Solution Provider for Enterprise Markets in Africa’ and the ‘Changing Lives Award’ for the use of the M-Pesa platform to raise funds for the successful Kenyans for Kenya initiative.
The initiative had a target of raising Sh500 million in 4 weeks, but raised three times the amount in a month which went to feed over 300,000 needy Kenyans.
The Best ICT Solution Award came as a result of Safaricom’s role in the implementation of the ‘teleJustice’ project, which connects Kenya’s High courts allowing judges and court officials to conduct case hearings remotely. The system, supported by Cisco TelePresence, aims to fasten the judicial process and clear the backlog of cases.
“These awards are a resounding recognition of our customer-centric solutions that have gone a long way in positively impacting lives in Kenyan communities. We would not have done this without the belief and support of our customers and staff. We are greatly humbled by this honour, especially considering that it has been achieved on a pan-African platform,” said Mr Nzioka, Safaricom Corporate Affairs Director
Orange won the Best New Service through their Surf and Pay product, aimed at providing small businesses in Kenya and Uganda with a hassle-free internet service that enables customers to charge end users for connecting to the internet. It also makes it possible for neighbors to share the cost of an internet connection.
Other winners include; MTN, Helios Towers, Seacom, Huawei, Ericsson, Gateway and SkyVision.
