Kenyan start-ups feted for excellence

Five start-ups have emerged winners of the Emerging Enterprise Initiative competition which is backed by British Airways and Safaricom.

The five including Tiny Totos, Pegg Entertainment, Ukall Limited, Zamoyo Limited and Jiinue Holdings emerged winners from over 100 companies who registered for the campaign.

They each will receive British Airways’ 48,000 On business points an equivalent of a return business class ticket to London and Sh100,000 worth of Safaricom airtime to promote their businesses in any of the 114 British Airways destinations around the world.

“The Emerging Enterprise Initiative campaign sought to give small and medium businesses opportunities to spread their wings and explore opportunities to prosper” said British Airways Acting Commercial Manager for Kenya Kevin Leung during the awards giving ceremony last Friday at a Nairobi hotel.
Safaricom’s Enterprise Business Unit Director Rita Okuthe said the partnership with British Airways was an opportunity to nurture the great ideas and innovation showcased by Kenyan SMEs.

“Safaricom aims to support and empower people who want to better themselves and their businesses” added Ms Okuthe.

She pointed out that Kenya is an SME driven economy employing 80 per cent of people in the country and accounts for 92 per cent of all jobs that are created. The sector contributes 45 per cent GDP.

The Emerging Enterprise Initiative was launched by British Airways and Safaricom in November 2015 as an effort to provide international exposure for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.
The campaign aims at giving SME’s a boost by offering them access to international markets or a chance to source their supplies from source markets, at the most affordable and competitive rates.
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