A superhuman feat unravels in Vienna

Today marks a great day for all Kenyans and for us at Safaricom as we celebrate and recognise an extraordinary, well achieved, and iconic Kenyan, the mighty Eliud Kipchoge.

Kipchoge is not only Kenya’s greatest marathoner and one of our greatest athletes, he is also the greatest marathoner to ever walk on earth. Race after race, Kipchoge has gone ahead to accomplish one achievement after another.

This streak of success has greatly endeared him among Kenyans of all walks of life. To us, he exemplifies determination, resilience, ambition and, most of all, hard work.

We are not only proud to share in his achievements as fellow countrywomen and countrymen, but also note with great admiration that Kipchoge motivates us and gets us going with every challenge he takes on.

At Safaricom, we are proud and humbled to be associated with, and to have a partner in, a giant. For more than a year now, Kipchoge has been our brand ambassador, bringing out the spirit of Twaweza, which we launched in our last rebrand.

Just this week, we had the privilege of deepening our relationship with Kipchoge by further extending our partnership and welcoming him on board as our M-Pesa brand ambassador.

Through him, we stand on the shoulder of a giant to reach even higher heights as we take the service to the world.

The world’s greatest athlete and the world’s most successful mobile money service is a perfect coming-together to inspire, motivate and change the lives of more people. Kipchoge is a befitting ambassador for our M-Pesa Global service, which now enables anyone to send or receive money anywhere in the world.

In a race against the clock, Kipchoge will today take on the 42 kilometres that make a full marathon in a time of 1 hour and 59 minutes. This is a super-human feat that takes great talent and effort to even attempt. It is an accomplishment that needs much more than the usual celebration. At Safaricom, we are showing our respect by also becoming Kipchoge’s ambassador.

To show our commitment and respect to our legend, we rebranded M-Pesa for seven days. Our new logo is the five letters that spell Kipchoge’s first name, Eliud, and the numbers 1:59 to denote the challenge.

For Safaricom, it is an immense honour and privilege to have the opportunity to dedicate our iconic M-Pesa brand to a befitting icon.

Just as Kipchoge is the first human being aiming to conquer the sub-two-hour marathon, M-Pesa is similarly a mobile money service in a world of its own.

Equally, we remain committed to providing Kenyans with one of the best networks in the world, one that they can always count on.

Kenyans run the world. It is therefore an honour that more than 33 million of you have chosen Safaricom to connect you as you take on the world.

Mr Lopokoiyit is the Chief Officer, Financial Services at Safaricom.