Kenya’s corporate and individual philanthropy has come of age
Education CS Fred Matiang’i with one of the beneficiaries of the Equity Bank and Mastercard Wings to Fly scholarships programme at Kenyatta University on January 4, 2018. PHOTO | MARY WAMBUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Philanthropy is no longer a niche activity in Kenya, with more and more companies and billionaires embracing it.
The trick is to get to know thoroughly the cause you seek to fund, and not to think that simply throwing money around will be a solution.
So far 519 students have gone through the ELP since it was inaugurated in 1998. The overall aim is to mould leaders in a multiplicity of fields.
Corporate philanthropy has evolved quite a lot in Kenya. Many companies now have programmes they roll out as part of what is known as corporate social responsibility. Being a good corporate citizen is not just about clever branding but is a bonus for the wider society in which we all operate.
BEST PRACTICE
Last week, the unveiling by Equity Bank of its annual roster of scholarships for high school achievers had the usual pomp and circumstance. Seeing the bright young pupils as their names are called out, with their expectant faces looking forward to an education in top-notch global universities, and a rewarding career afterwards when they graduate, is always a memorable sight to behold. There are two components of the Equity programme: The Wings to Fly and the Equity Leaders Programme (ELP). This year there were 56 lucky finalists, 17 of who qualified for the Wings to Fly programme (for ‘A’ students) while the rest have been enrolled for the Equity Leaders Programme (ELP). The majority have been allotted places in prestigious US universities ranging from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cornell, Amherst and Johns Hopkins. Others have won places in universities in Canada, China, Russia, South Korea, Slovakia, Hungary and South Africa.
Modern-day corporate philanthropy is no longer just a matter of throwing piles of money willy-nilly. Smart companies aim to make a long-term impact that is beneficial to recipients and the community at large. Charity is not even a very apt word nowadays. It denotes compassion, which does not necessarily bring out the best results. Best practice these days is to tailor philanthropy to the aptitudes of the recipients and the needs of society. For instance, Safaricom’s charitable activities concentrate on empowering communities and groups through income-generating activities, health projects, vocational training and stuff like environmental conservation. It’s not the practice just to write cheques indiscriminately.
GENIUS GRANTS
The Equity Foundation model, working in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation (and others), picks very bright but financially disadvantaged, pupils with high academic potential who are given the opportunity to study at some of the very best universities in the world. The skills they acquire will be transferred back to Kenya to hopefully transform their communities and the organisations they will work for. (They are not tied to work for Equity Bank and its affiliates, though some choose to). The scholarships are highly competitive, and in a way mirror the criteria set by America’s MacArthur Foundation, which prioritises on accomplished creative people. (Its generous Fellows Programme is colloquially called “genius grants”).
This yearly ELP airlifts of scholars to American and European universities can be said, without exaggeration, to be the largest airlift of students since the famous ones organised by Tom Mboya in the late 50s and early 60s. So far 519 students have gone through the ELP since it was inaugurated in 1998. An additional 14,000-plus pupils have benefited from ELP scholarships in Kenyan high schools and Technical Vocation Education Training institutions (TVETs). The innovation Equity Foundation brought into its programmes is not only in providing scholarships and stipends. It also arranges for internship opportunities for the alumni and, quite crucially, for mentors as well. The mentorship covers areas such as career progression, finance literacy training and life skills. The overall aim is to mould leaders in a multiplicity of fields.
MENTORSHIP
When starting off, they are usually attached to Equity as the sponsoring entity. This is done because of the training and internship they go through, which is tied to the mentorship programmes. They are assisted in searching for the right courses, and how to navigate the university enrolment process for foreign students. They are guided until they are finally flagged off to join their respective universities.
As an advanced human resource development programme, the importance of the ELP cannot be gainsaid. Doctors, engineers, economists and many other high-calibre professionals have over the years gone through the programme. I don’t know if the Equity Foundation liaises with the government and private corporations to identify critical manpower gaps in both the public and private sectors in assisting its scholars in selecting careers. It would be a bit of a waste to sponsor a student to Johns Hopkins to study for a degree in liberal arts when the university has one of the most acclaimed medical schools in the world. Or to take an undergraduate to MIT to do biology when the institution is a world leader in engineering sciences courses.
Philanthropy is no longer a niche activity in Kenya, with more and more companies and billionaires embracing it. The trick is to get to know thoroughly the cause you seek to fund, and not to think that simply throwing money around will be a solution.
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Fare thee well Comrade Robert Mugabe. You made your mistakes. You were human after all. Still your liberation heroism will never be forgotten.
