Absa Group Sponsors 9 Kenyan Pros For The Safari Tours Golf Series

Absa Group Limited, operating in Kenya as Barclays, has today announced a sponsorship worth KES 5.2 million for nine Kenyan pros playing in the Safari Tour golf series in the run-up to 2020 Magical Kenya Open, presented by Absa.

The sponsorship will cover the costs of participating in the remaining six legs of the Safari tour series for eight of the top ten pro golfers -according to the current Safari Tour ranking- as well as the youngest pro in the competition.

Announcing the sponsorship at the Green Park golf course at the Great Rift Valley Lodge where the sixth leg of the Safari Tour is ongoing, Barclays Kenya Marketing and Corporate Relations Director Caroline Ndungu said the sponsorship would enable the players to successfully prepare for the Magical Kenya Open scheduled for March next year.

The safari tour embraces the Kenyan imaginative spirit and it is our commitment as Barclays, part of the Absa family, to offer initiatives that create new possibilities. #OpeningPossibilities #SafariTour pic.twitter.com/XFDbBsiK5f

— Barclays Bank Kenya (@Barclays_Kenya) November 23, 2019

The benefitting pros include the Professional Golfers of Kenya captain C.J Wangai, Eric Ooko, Riz Charania, Simon Ngige, Kopan Timbe, David Wakhu, Jastas Madoya, Mohit Mediratta, and the youngest pro, Mathew Wahome. The golfers will don Absa-branded shirts throughout the Safari Tour competition.

“As a brand, we believe in connecting people’s dreams to the resources they need to achieve their aspirations, which is in line with our brand purpose of bringing possibilities to life. Given our long-standing association with the game of golf in this country, we fully recognize the need to support our pros to better prepare for the Open. It is through such partnerships that we can all play a part towards improving the performance of our Kenyan pros, and hopefully get a Kenyan winner in the future,” Ms. Ndung’u said.

Further, as part of the sponsorship, Absa announced that it would reward the top five Kenyan pros who make it to the Magical Kenya Open 2020 with a sponsorship of Kes250, 000 each.

That’s not all; any the Absa-sponsored Kenyan golfers who make it to the top 20 after the first two rounds in the 2020 MKO will receive an additional reward Kes500, 000. Those who make it to the top ten after the final round of the tournament will receive a further token of Kes1 million each.

In partnership with the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK), the bank said it is working on a mentorship program that would psychologically prepare all the Kenyan pro golfers for the main Open.

“As a business, and more so as we transition from Barclays to Absa, we have a strong resolve to be an active force for good in our country and we will, therefore, continue investing in programs such as these which encourage our professional players to successfully pursue their dreams”, said Ms. Ndungu.

The Safari Tour will culminate in the 2020 Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship in March. The tournament was elevated to the prestigious European Tour status for the first time this year and is expected to attract more international players and position the country as an attractive investment destination.

Earlier this year, Absa announced an investment of KES150 million in the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Magical Kenya Open tournament.

Absa Group’s association with sports sponsorship is long-standing with the Group being the official sponsor of one of the continent’s biggest football tournaments – the Absa Premiership League – since 2007. The league has promoted the growth and development of local and international football players and coaches within the league. Absa is also the current sponsor of the Absa Cape Epic, an exhilarating eight-day off-road mountain bike stage race that takes place annually in South Africa’s Western Cape Province.

After the Naivasha chapter, the Safari Tour will head to Muthaiga Golf Club, Thika Greens, Sigona Golf Club, Uganda Golf Club and finally the Karen Country Club before the main tournament.

The Kenya Open Golf Tournament

Kenya Open is a golf tournament that was founded in 1967 and has been an event on the European based Challenge Tour schedule since 1991.

The tournament attracts an average of 9,000 people annually and the plan this year is to deliver a deliberate demystification campaign in order to drive more interest in the game.

The Tournament attracts elite golfers from all over the world and is currently the second oldest event under the PGA European Challenge Tour.

The Kenya Open title has been won by some of Europe’s biggest Ryder Cup stars such as Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Ken Brown and Christy O’Connor Jr, as well as future Masters Champion Trevor Immelman. The most successful player is England’s Maurice Bembridge, who recorded three victories between 1968 and 1979.

The Absa Group

Absa Group Limited (previously Barclays Africa Group) is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups.

Absa Group offers an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and insurance. Absa Group has a presence in 12 countries in Africa, with approximately 42 000 employees.

The Group’s registered head office is in Johannesburg, South Africa, and it owns majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa (Absa Bank), Tanzania (Barclays Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia.

The Group also has representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria, as well as insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.

About Barclays Bank Kenya

Barclays Bank of Kenya is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and is one of Kenya’s leading financial institutions.

Established in 1916, Barclays has been a major player in Kenya’s financial landscape, engaged in personal and corporate banking, enterprise, credit cards, and bancassurance.

The bank offers end-to-end financial solutions to retail, enterprise and corporate customers, and its regional and global footprint enables it to offer cutting-edge financial solutions to its clients.

The bank is a leader in the credit card space. It has also been associated with a number of market firsts, such as the launch of the first ATM, Sharia-compliant banking and unsecured lending.

Barclays has a presence in 38 counties. It has 84 branches, 214 ATMs, 374 Agency Banking outlets, a robust Internet and a mobile banking platform. The bank’s purpose is to bring possibilities to life.

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