Safaricom has won Best Initiative to Build a Diverse Supplier Base in the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Excellence in Procurement Awards 2022. The telco was recognized for its efforts in diversity and inclusion, under its Women in Business (WIB) Programme.
The Programme was established in 2017 to encourage and empower women-owned businesses and as part of the company’s commitment to reduce inequalities in the supply chain.
It seeks to foster economic empowerment by ensuring that there is a fair share of procurement opportunities allocated to women-owned businesses. It also provides the women with capacity-building training, mentorship, and coaching among other measures with the aim of improving their economic status and the communities in which they live.
“Our Women in Business initiative continues its transformational journey of empowering women and driving their economic growth. Worth noting is that the initiative continues to be a model Programme for other organisations who have adopted similar models aimed at increasing the participation of women-owned businesses in their supply chains. By involving women in our Supply Chain, we have progressively diversified and increased women-owned businesses to over 200 since 2017,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.
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According to Safaricom’s 2021 Sustainability Report, the company has onboarded 227 women-led businesses, which represents 9.7% of its supplier base. The report also indicates that procurement spending by Safaricom on Women in Business stood at Ksh1.7 billion.
The CIPS Excellence in Procurement Awards are an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the best work and teams in the procurement profession.
Safaricom was also recently recognised for its diversity and inclusion initiatives and was nominated for the 2023 Zero Project Awards for establishing a job portal with the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) to cater to persons with disabilities.
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