Kenya’s largest telecommunication company Safaricom is seeking to reintroduce initiatives that support young people to innovate and set up social enterprises based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainable business practices.
This is part of the telco’s giant plans to derive profit through sustainability and help the county become carbon neutral by 2030.
Before the advent of coronavirus pandemic Safaricom worked with schools on projects for sustainable development which they want to revive to create green awareness among people.
Speaking at media immersion on sustainable business reporting forum in collaboration with Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) Safaricom’s director of sustainable business and social impact Karen Basiye said they had introduced sustainable development goal board game in high schools and had plans to got down to primary schools.
“We had a very vibrant programs in schools, we piloted with schools such as alliance, M-Pesa academy and it was working fantastically well but nobody anticipated the pandemic, so now we a team in place to big it back to schools at the university we had them little big thing initiative powered by Safaricom” she said.
“I want to commend the CBC because I see they have course on environment, though they don’t have sustainability but something a little on governance and ethics” she added.
However, on his part the CEO of the KCIC DR Edward Mungai decried on the lack of sustainability related courses at the university calling on the education stakeholders to introduce such course even if elective course.
“If want you to do a degree on sustainability there is nothing like that in this market, we need to encourage them to enter in that space and hopefully green the minds of many Kenyans.”
Safaricom has invested Sh74 million in planting of 5 million trees a project that plans to offset 26 per cent of its carbon emissions once the trees have grown to maturity and stimulate economic growth in the local community.
“Our trees are taken care off by the community. when we studied the tree survival rate in Kenya it was at 40 per cent-60 per cent we gave the community and everyone who benefits from the livelihood part of our project a target of 80 per cent survival rate and we do inspect,” said director of sustainability Karen Basiye.
On this project Safaricom is working with the community forest association in partnership with Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to ensure the trees live up to five years.