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Karen Basiye @kbasiye Karen Basiye

Karen Basiye, Senior Manager Sustainability at Safaricom has been a devoted champion of Sustainability and the Global Goals in the corporate scene in Kenya. Driven by the conviction that business can be a force for good, she has passionately advocated for the uptake of the Goals and inspired other businesses to take action.

Safaricom is a provider of voice, data, financial services and enterprise solutions for a range of customers, small businesses and governments, using a variety of platforms. The integration of the SDGs has enabled the company to push the traditional boundaries of doing business to deliver shared value for people and planet. As a LEAD company in the UN Global Compact, Safaricom has been an active participant of Global Compact Network Kenya since 2006.

Karen has been at the forefront of leading the sustainability vision and ambition of the company of transforming lives as guided by 9 goals the company has prioritized.

Each goal in turn has been weaved into the company's business strategy as articulated in its purpose statement: We commit to deliver connectivity and innovative (Goal 9) products and services that will provide unmatched solutions to meet the needs of Kenyans by enabling access (Goal 10) through its technologies and partners (Goal 17) and by exploring opportunities in Health (Goal 3), Education (Goal 4) and Energy (Goal 7). Safaricom does so by managing its operations responsibly (Goal 12) and ethically (Goal 16). This will stimulate growth and generate value (Goal 8) for the company, society and economy.

At Safaricom, Karen has also contributed to the development of various projects and commitments under the 9 SDGs. She has also tracked Safaricom's economic and social contribution to Kenya by leading the True Value Study annually. Currently Safaricom contributes 6.5% to the Kenyan GDP. She has delivered support through the Thrive Global Programme with more than 95% of the company staff receiving health and wellbeing training. In addition, she also takes lead in developing the company's sustainability report and has mentored other Global Compact Network Kenya member companies in improving the quality of their environment, social and governance disclosures.