From Access to Participation: Safaricom Deepens Focus on Disability Inclusion

Accessing a mobile service is a routine part of everyday life for the average person. But for persons with disabilities, simple interactions with technology, customer service, or digital platforms can sometimes present additional barriers.

This is the reality that Safaricom is seeking to address as part of its broader commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. This includes the practices within the organisation and also in the way it serves its customers.

Through a two-day empowerment programme in partnership with the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE), Safaricom is bringing its inclusion agenda closer to the people it ultimately seeks to serve, that is, persons with disabilities.

The programme, running on Thursday, 24 September at KISE and Friday, 25 September at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), provided an opportunity for customers with special needs to engage directly with Safaricom teams, share their experiences and contribute to conversations on how technology and services can become more accessible.

At KISE, Safaricom’s Care team hosted a dedicated customer care desk where customers can receive support, raise concerns, and provide feedback on Safaricom products and services. The engagement was important as it enabled the customers present to clearly explain the challenges they experience in their day-to-day interactions with Safaricom services. This is integral for the company as it continues to evolve its digital platforms.

As more customers move towards digital-first experiences such as the MyOne App, understanding how persons with different accessibility needs navigate these platforms becomes an important part of building truly customer-centric services. The objective is therefore not simply to provide assistance, but to listen, learn, and identify where the customer experience can be improved.

For Safaricom, the conversation around disability inclusion extends beyond the customer. Over the years, Safaricom has sought to build a workplace where persons with disabilities can participate, develop their careers and contribute their skills. The company’s sustainability reporting has highlighted initiatives around recruiting and retaining employees with disabilities, developing inclusive leadership practices and creating support structures for staff.

The company has also established a Diversity and Inclusion chapter to spearhead disability-related matters within the organisation, while inclusive communication practices, such as sign-language interpretation and closed captioning, have been incorporated into its workplace engagements.

Safaricom’s efforts have included programmes such as the IT Bridge Academy, which provided young people with disabilities with opportunities to build technology skills and gain workplace experience. In 2024, the company also launched a pilot technology re-skilling programme offering young persons with disabilities training in software engineering, career mentorship and coaching.

The company has also created employee-led initiatives that recognise that inclusion is about more than recruitment. The Beyond Abilities programme, for example, was created to enable employees with disabilities to participate in fitness and wellness activities through adaptive training, equipment and personalised support. These efforts reflect a broader philosophy that diversity should be reflected in everyone who gets an opportunity to work, grow and thrive within the organisation.

That same thinking is increasingly influencing the way Safaricom approaches its customer proposition. The company’s focus on accessibility sits within its wider role as a digital services provider, where connectivity, mobile money and digital platforms have become essential tools for participating in everyday economic and social life. For persons with disabilities, accessibility can determine how easily they can communicate, transact, access information, manage their finances or interact with businesses.

The partnership with KISE therefore offered an opportunity for customers to help shape the services designed for them. Rather than assuming what persons with disabilities need, Safaricom’s Care team is creating a space for customers to articulate those needs directly, from challenges with digital platforms to experiences with customer support and areas where products could become easier to use.

As part of the commemoration of Deaf Awareness Week, the conversation concluded on Friday at KICC, where Safaricom and other key stakeholders and industry players convened to explore strategies and opportunities for advancing accessibility and inclusion across products and services. The stakeholder engagement is expected to broaden the conversation beyond a single organisation, recognising that creating an inclusive digital ecosystem requires collaboration between businesses, institutions, technology players and the disability community.

Ultimately, inclusion is not simply about having products available to everyone. It is about ensuring that people can meaningfully access, understand and use those products.

For Safaricom, the two-day programme provides an opportunity to put that principle into practice: by listening to customers, supporting employees with disabilities, strengthening partnerships and using technology to remove barriers rather than create new ones. It is a reminder that building a more inclusive digital Kenya is not only about connecting more people. It is also about making sure that everyone can participate once they are connected.

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