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Airtel Kenya To Safaricom: Stop Copying Us

by Milicent Atieno
airtel

Airtel Kenya is accusing Safaricom, its arch rival in the Kenya telecom industry of shadowing its move. Airtel Kenya’s CEO said that Safaricom is replicating new products the it is launching in the Kenyan market.

Yesterday, Airtel launched a life insurance business where it partnered with Pan Africa Life and Micro Ensure to set up the cover. The insurance cover gives policyholders accident and hospitalization benefits based on how much they spend monthly on airtime. Airtel subscribers must first sign up for the service to enjoy the insurance cover.

Adil El Youssefi, CEO of Airtel Kenya said, “We have been working on this product for over a year now. It’s available to subscribers aged between 18-65 who will only need to sign up via a short code and consume airtime up to the Ksh.250 mark each month in order to be eligible for the benefits.”

Airtel subscribers that use more than Ksh.250 on airtime per month will be given Ksh.1,000 hospitalization and Ksh.10,000 life and accident insurance cover. Those who use more than Ksh.500 airtime will get Ksh.2,000 hospitalization cover and Ksh.25,000 on life and accident cover.

Adil El Youssefi, CEO of Airtel Kenya said, “Airtel insurance is a mass market product. The copying of our products by the dominant competitor will not be tolerated.”

Youssefi also claims that the Airtel visa card the telecom launched last September, has already been copied by Safaricom and the competitor plans to launch a similar product come next month.

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