Nairobi — As the dust settles on another edition of the World Rally Championships (WRC) Safari Rally in Naivasha, it is time for corporate sponsors, the government, partners and other stakeholders to take stock of the three-day event.
For the national air carrier, Kenya Airways, the Safari Rally has been a continuation of its longstanding involvement in Kenyan sports.
As one of the sponsors for the 'toughest rally in the world', the event was an opportunity for them to play their part in making it a reality by ensuring everything went according to plan.
"We are very proud to be associated with this event...how we do it is that we sponsor it in kind. We offer tickets but also commercially we ship in the cars and fly in people who just want to come and be part of this event," Julius Thairu, Chief Commercial and Customer Officer at KQ, says.
The national airline has been a prominent sponsor of the annual event, pumping in Ksh 30 million towards the organisation and staging of the rally in addition to partnership with M Sport Ford rally team as the latter's logistics partner.
Thairu adds that this year's edition has afforded KQ the opportunity to interact with as many of their target customers as possible with their latest products and services.
"Am actually standing at the KQ hospitality tent...this time we have done something different. We co-hosted our customers jointly with Safaricom, which is of course one of our good brands in Kenya. Why are we doing this? One, because of sustainability and also because we have joint customers," he said.
Thairu adds: "KQ we have just launched the much-awaited loyalty programme...known as Asante Rewards and this was a perfect opportunity in a relaxed setting to mingle and talk with our customers and introduce and sign them up to this fascinating programme."
Personally for Thairu, this year's edition was a perfect chance for him to relive his childhood memories of this iconic and unique event in addition to introducing his kids to the sport that brought him so much thrill in his younger days.
"This event remains very nostalgic...When we were all growing up I think the Safari Rally was the thing. It almost feels like going back in time...I see people out here, our customers, with their families enjoying themselves," Thairu notes.
He adds: " The experience for me was fascinating...I was here with my two young boys and it is amazing to see how their eyes light up when they see the cars zooming past us...you know, with the whole dust up in the air...helicopters in the sky."
Talking about talent development, KQ Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka points out that the airline is a believer in nurturing sports talent at a young age, hence the firm's involvement in the motorsports industry.
"For us as Kenya Airways, we encourage the identification, sponsorship and development of talent because that is the future of this country...that is the future of sports...that is the future of encouraging young people to be involved in very productive activities," Kilavuka says.
He adds: "We also see this as a way of employing and deploying talent in this country and we as KQ are very supportive of the deployment of talent for sporting purposes and building the Kenyan brand."
The national airline has pumped Ksh 20 million towards the FIA Rally Star Programme, which is a global initiative to empower young rally drivers aged 17-26 years across the globe.
The initiative has seen young rally driver McRae Kimathi make history as the first Kenyan -- and fourth African -- to compete in the Junior WRC Championship when he made his debut at the Rally of Sweden last year.
Hamza Anwar, another beneficiary of the initiative, has followed in his peer's footsteps, competing in this year's Junior WRC events in Croatia, Sweden and Portugal.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The youngster is also expected to feature in Estonia and Greece legs of the rally, later this year.
Apart from the two, the other driver involved in the programme is Jeremy Wahome.
For someone who watched the Safari Rally as a kid, Kilavuka is likewise over the moon that he gets to be part of stakeholders engaged in making the event a reality and a memorable one for billions of motorsports enthusiasts who are always tuned in to watch the proceedings.
"I am very proud to be associated with the Safari Rally as a brand. We have watched this Safari Rally over time...we have watched it growing up but more importantly it represents an iconic brand for Kenya and so we are happy to be associated with this brand," Kilavuka explains.
This year's Safari Rally saw Toyota Gazoo racing team continue their domination of the Kenyan terrain with a 1-2-3-4 finish
