GSMA recognises Safaricom for ‘outstanding contribution to the mobile industry’

The GSM Association (GSMA) has presented the “Outstanding Contribution to the Mobile Industry Award” to Safaricom PLC. The Award recognizes exceptional achievement in the mobile industry by an individual or organization that shape the global mobile sector.

The GSMA is an association of global mobile operators, and the organization’s Head of Africa Wale Goodluck was in Nairobi to present the awards to Safaricom.

“Our Transforming Lives purpose has driven our business over the last 20 years, and we appreciate that this is one of the factors that has contributed to this prestigious award. This recognition would not have been possible without our members of staff, who work every minute to ensure that our network delivers solutions to meet our customer’s needs. We are constantly innovating and finding new ways to enhance our customers’ experiences through products, services and solutions that are relevant to them,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.

“The award celebrates Safaricom for being a pioneer in digital innovation. The industry recognizes the contribution that Safaricom has had in the country. Revolutionizing Kenya’s economy via M-PESA and leveraging the power of mobile phone to impact lives positively in health, agriculture and education sectors,” said Mr. Goodluck.

Safaricom has been driving the growth and improvement of the mobile industry through continuous efforts to creatively innovate and align all aspects of our lives with technology. The recent launch of trials for 5G services and continuous improvements of the M-PESA platform are some of the avenues it is exploring as part of this digital revolution.

The prestigious award honours an individual or organisational achievements for technology advancements that are shaping the mobile sector. As one of the pioneer organisations bringing mobile money to the unbanked of East Africa and fostering a commercial environment aimed at championing a generation of new and exciting entrepreneurs, GSMA said it believes Safaricom was the uncontested winner for the year 2020. In particular, the award also recognised the tremendous impact of former CEO Bob Collymore on the industry at a global level.

“Mobile connectivity is changing lives across Africa. It is transforming and uplifting lives in multiple ways ranging from communication to health and education to agriculture and financial services. These innovations have created a significant multiplier effect in the economies where mobile connectivity is taking root across Sub-Saharan Africa. It is our duty to ensure mobile connectivity hits its full potential for the benefit of our people,” said Mr. Ndegwa.