Three Kenyan firms bag top regional innovation awards

Three Kenyan companies won top honours at the inaugural East Africa Excellence Awards held in Nairobi last Thursday.

Telecom giant Safaricom #ticker:SCOM was voted East Africa’s most impactful business while Equity #ticker:EQTY and Barclays #ticker:BBK banks were voted the region’s most innovative financial institutions.

The annual Excellence Awards recognises and awards financial markets participants’ outstanding performance and impactful innovation across the region.

Refinitiv, formerly Thomson Reuters Financial and Risk business, hosted the awards ceremony.

Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk business on October 1 changed its trade name to Refinitiv following closure of a strategic partnership transaction that Thomson Reuters had with private equity funds managed by Blackstone.

Sneha Shah, Managing Director for Africa at Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk Business said East Africa needs committed individuals and companies to drive the success and growth of the regional economy as well as contribute to strong and stable financial systems and institutions.

“The East Africa Excellence Awards recognise and highlight the great work of individuals and companies who, amongst many outstanding nominees, were selected as the ones producing the most impact for East Africa’s financial markets,” she said.

Similar awards were first held in Southern Africa in 2017 and its success has led to the establishment of the East African edition in 2018.

The awards honoured financial markets participants from across East Africa, including Indian Ocean Islands, who help to drive growth and efficiency, transparency and deepening in their respective countries and the region.