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Safaricom and Kenya Breweries Ltd (KBL) are in a partnership whereby the telco will connect and enhance the brewer’s coolers. The connected coolers will be wired with sensors which leverage on the Internet of things (IoT) – the inter-networking of “smart” devices that collect and exchange data. They will be provided free of charge to retailers and outlets countrywide.

Other than the connected coolers project, EABL is already partnering Safaricom in driving a cashless payment model among its distributors, who now transact on M-PESA when dealing with retailers.

Rita Okuthe, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Safaricom, had this to say, “We developed an IoT solution that consists of devices installed in the coolers that will have sensors which will transmit various data to a platform which generates business insights that will assist KBL to optimise the coolers. For instance, EABL distributors can now tell where their assets are located, if the assets are in use or not (on/off), whether the assets are at the optimal temperature and how many times the door of the cooler is opened. Over 2,000 coolers are already connected.”

Safaricom is also planning to bring valuable solutions by leveraging on IoT to deliver smart water metering and animal tracking system. The new Internet of Things (IoT) network will tap into the Safaricom existing 4G network.