Telecommunications company Safaricom has announced a KES 13 million sponsorship of the ninth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally under its M-PESA Global brand.
The amount will support operations, logistics and communication during the rally which will take place between November 27th and December 6th 2019. The rally is set to cover more than 4,500 kilometres in Kenya and Tanzania for a period of over nine days.
“Our sponsorship of this ninth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally underlines our continued commitment to support and nurture talent through sport. With races in Kenya and Tanzania and a roster of drivers from around the world, the rally provides an opportunity to empower more customers through our M-PESA Global service,” said Michael Joseph, acting CEO, Safaricom.
The East African Classic Safari Rally has been running every two years since 2003 and is open to two-wheel drive, naturally aspirated rally cars built before 1985. The race aims to showcase the beauty of the East African landscape with vehicles racing through world-famous game parks, with overnight stops at the region’s lodges and hotels.
East African Safari Classic Rally Chairman Raju Kishinani said that this edition of the race has a more intense and exciting route than it ever had before.
“The ninth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally saw us evaluate more than 12,000 kilometres of roads resulting in an intense and exciting route selection for this year’s rally. We are glad to have M-PESA Global on board as our main sponsor as this will help us attract a wide range of local and global talent,” Raju Kishinani said.
The rally will begin at Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa, Kenya and run for four days in Kenya, before crossing over to Tanzania where stages will run across four days, with a finish in Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa, Kenya. Competitors are set to cover approximately 500 kilometres every day in competitive stages of between 50 km and 160 km.
Some of the teams that have already confirmed participation include Tuthill Porsche, Freestone Rally Services, Minti Motorsport Oman, Team Tido Race 4 Health, ALS Motorsport and Safari World Africa.
Kevin Namunwa is a reporter with Business Today. He is interested in Business, Entertainment, and Sports. You can find him on email at [email protected]
