Safaricom, Kenya’s leading telecommunications provider, has forged strategic alliances with Cloudflare, a renowned international web infrastructure and cybersecurity company, and Copycat, a prominent business technology provider in Africa. This collaboration is designed to fortify Kenyan businesses against contemporary cyber threats and data breaches.
The core objective of this partnership is to deliver cost-effective and dependable digital security solutions tailored for the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) operating in Kenya. Safaricom has introduced a subscription-based model for these cloud-centric cybersecurity packages, with pricing starting at KES 5,000 monthly for each site. These solutions can be rapidly deployed, becoming operational within a matter of hours.
Safaricom has emphasized Cloudflare’s impressive data processing capabilities, which exceed 248 terabytes, claiming it to be 30 times more powerful than any competing service provider in the market.
Cynthia Kropac, Safaricom’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, announced the partnership, marking Safaricom as the inaugural managed services provider in Africa to collaborate with Cloudflare. She underscored the initiative’s focus on reshaping the way Kenyan MSMEs safeguard their digital operations with top-tier security offerings.
Kropac stressed the importance of making full-spectrum cybersecurity tools both affordable and easily accessible through this partnership. The solutions range from fundamental defenses to sophisticated security measures.
“Safeguarding our customers with state-of-the-art cyber protection is a priority, and by integrating Cloudflare’s services, including zero-trust and locally hosted email security solutions in Kenyan data centers, we are building a resilient infrastructure for the future,” Kropac stated. She also hinted at more announcements to be made at the forthcoming Safaricom Cybersecurity Summit.
Graham Turnbull, the Managing Executive at Cloudflare, expressed that the partnership is set to bring comprehensive and potent digital security solutions within the reach of business proprietors. Vishal Patel, the Managing Director at Copycat, echoed this sentiment, highlighting that businesses of all sizes stand to gain from enterprise-level security, which empowers them to grow with confidence, supported by secure, swift, and reliable digital infrastructure.
In a separate initiative aimed at supporting business owners, Safaricom joined forces with Pezesha, a Kenyan fintech firm, in June 2024. This collaboration introduced a novel credit facility for small business proprietors, enabling them to secure loans directly via their M-PESA business accounts. This new service complements Safaricom’s existing financial products, such as M-Shwari and Fuliza.
These strategic moves are part of Safaricom’s broader efforts to attract more businesses. The company reported a pre-interest and tax revenue of KSh 139.9 billion ($1.07 billion), surpassing both market forecasts and the company’s own financial projections. Safaricom attributes this financial success to factors such as targeted customer segmentation, digitization initiatives within the public sector, and investments in cutting-edge technologies.
