The Kenya Export Promotion Council (EPC) has awarded local enterprises that have made a made significant contribution to the export sector among them was British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya Limited.
The winners who were selected from 24 companies which participated in the inaugural Kenya Exporter of the Year Awards (KEYA 2019) were awarded for exemplary business performance under various categories.
BAT won the Solid Rock Commendation (Lifetime Achievement) Award while Spear of The Nation Award (Outstanding Sector Commendation) went to Molo River Roses Limited. Other winners were Polucon Services Kenya Ltd and Smolart Self-Help Group (Rising Stars Awards), Jungle Macs (EPZ) Limited (Upcoming Export Performers – Eagles Award) and Gold Crown Foods (Novelty Innovation Diversification and Value Addition – Innovators Award).
The KEYA awards are aimed at encouraging local firms to export their goods and services to boost the economy. It is organised by the EPC to recognise firms that have made significant contribution to the development of the economy through exemplary business performance.
The KEYA awards focuses on excellence based and recognition honours, which are determined by leadership and corporate governance, marketing and customer focus, financial and revenue generation practices, and ICT adoption in the firms. Product quality, processes and certification, human resource management and sustainability of the firms are also evaluated. The Recognition awards on the other hand consider the excellence-based criteria as well as other specific aspects of the participating companies that are used to determine the various recognition categories.
Deputy President Dr. William Ruto, had this to say, “With the realization of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) towards an African Economic Community under the Abuja Protocol, Kenya’s positioning to strengthen her leadership role is imperative to harvesting the most foreign exchange.”
Established in 1992, EPC’s primary objective is to address bottlenecks that were facing exporters and producers of export goods and services with a view to increase the performance of the export sector.