Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom. [Photo/softkenya.com]
Safaricom on Wednesday launched its fifth regional headquarters in Nyeri town.
This comes as the firm continues to decentralize its operations across the country, with the aim of reaching and engaging its customers more effectively. The office which will be the center of operations for Mt. Kenya and North Eastern region is located on the outskirts of Nyeri along the Nyeri – Tetu Road, opposite Outspan Hospital.
The office will serve customers across 17 counties including Embu, Meru, Isiolo, Samburu, Tharaka Nithi, Marsabit and Garissa. Safaricom further moved to extend its retail and customer touchpoints to more customers in the region with the launch of its 46th retail shop at Nanyuki Mall in Nanyuki town. Customers in the 17 counties can also further access Safaricom services through 17 Customer Care Desks.
The Care Desks will be located at Safaricom Dealer outlets in the different towns across the counties including Mwingi, Kerugoya, Kenol, Kangema, Timau-Laikipia, Sagana, Marimanti, Mukurweini and Othaya “Decentralising our services through The Mt. Kenya and North Eastern regional headquarter enables us to be closer to our customers in the 17 counties. The regional office further gives us a better understanding of our customers’ needs and will in turn allow us to provide them with products and services that better fit their wants,” said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom. Safaricom has over the past year heavily invested in strengthening its network in the region, expanding its 3G and 4G network by more than 60 new sites including in Tana River, Isiolo, Marsabit, Kiambu and Garissa counties. Residents in the region are this year set to benefit from increased broadband coverage with Safaricom’s plan to rollout an additional more than 160 new 3G and 4G sites. The firm also plans to further boost its voice coverage through an investment in more than 80 new 2G sites. To supplement its mobile broadband, Safaricom has already rolled out its fibre for business services to more than 60 buildings in Thika, Nyeri and Meru, while its fibre to the home service now reaches more than 1,000 homes in Thika. Safaricom also announced plans to extend its fibre for business to a further nine towns in the region, and plans to more than double the reach of its fibre to the home services across nine other towns in the region. The mobile operator began implementing its regionalization strategy two years ago in a move that has seen services previously offered at its Nairobi headquarters decentralised to six regions.
Besides the Mt. Kenya and North Eastern region, other regions include Nairobi East, Nairobi West, Coast, Rift and the Great Western regions.