Safaricom’s M-TIBA Wins Gold in the 2017 Loeries Awards

Safaricom Limited’s M-TIBA platform emerged the winner at the 2017 Loeries Awards in Durban, South Africa where it received a gold medal in the Shared Value category.

The Loeries are Africa and Middle East’s premier initiative that recognizes, rewards, inspires and fosters creative excellence in the brand communication industry.

The Shared Value category recognizes brands that profitably deliver value to shareholders, while positively impacting society through their business models and practices.

The M-TIBA digital platform for inclusive healthcare is transforming how people in Kenya are paying for and accessing health care.

In June, M-TIBA received the FT/IFC Transformational Business Award in the category Achievement in Sustainable Development, with a focus on Health, Wellness, and Disease Prevention.

Kees Van Lede, Chief Executive Officer, CarePay Limited said that applying mobile technology to make healthcare more inclusive has increasingly become important in the provision of better healthcare to all Kenyans.

“The exponential growth of M-TIBA is a clear indication that we are meeting a demand for an essential service that was previously unavailable to many,” said Kees Lede.

M-TIBA, developed by PharmAccess, Safaricom and CarePay Limited, enables people to save, send, receive and pay money for medical treatment through a mobile health wallet on their phone. The digital platform allows for a more efficient and transparent way of connecting patients, doctors, payers and governments that are based on a constant flow of almost real-time data.

“Our partnership has transformed the lives of over one Million Kenyans by enabling access to better quality healthcare. If we can use the mobile phone for more social good such as promoting basic healthcare services, we will have addressed a significant portion of the social challenges that we face as a country” said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom.

Millicent Olulo, Country Director, PharmAccess, also noted that PharmAccess closely works with the healthcare providers through an integrated approach. Thus ensuring that the panel of M-TIBA providers is continuously improving the quality standards being offered at their clinics.
M-TIBA also provides a platform for healthcare benefits, such as vouchers and insurance. So far, more than ten (international) donor and corporate schemes are running on M-TIBA, including NHIF.

A broad range of public and private partners, including the Dutch government, M-PESA Foundation, Pfizer Foundation, Gilead and the Dutch Postcode Lottery, support M-TIBA.