AFTER confirming their interest to extend their operations to Rwanda, the local automobile club (RAC) has contacted Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) over a possible sponsorship deal of the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally; the most coveted event on the national calendar. RAC president Dismas Kayibanda told Times Sport yesterday that they have contacted KCB to solve their financial constraints for this particular race.
AFTER confirming their interest to extend their operations to Rwanda, the local automobile club (RAC) has contacted Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) over a possible sponsorship deal of the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally; the most coveted event on the national calendar.
RAC president Dismas Kayibanda told Times Sport yesterday that they have contacted KCB to solve their financial constraints for this particular race.
"We are engaged in sponsorship talks and we are hopeful about a possible deal owing to the way KCB has supported several regional sports events,” Kayibanda said.
The move by RAC to search for a sponsor comes after the race was scrapped from the African Rally Championship although it was later penciled as a candidate event for the 2010 African Rally championship.
Candidate events are rally events that are staged to gauge the national Automobile Association’s ability to host before it becomes an ARC event the following year.
So if the 2009 event is successful, Rwanda Mountain Gorilla rally will be a calendar event on the 2010 continental championship.
The rally which is bidding to be reinstated on the ARC calendar in 2010 is expected to host the candidate event mid next year.
Another candidate event on the draft calendar is Ethiopia Highlands Rally set for February 2009.
Rwanda will only confirm its engagement in the African championship if the KCB deal goes through.
KCB is one of the biggest corporate sponsorship companies in East Africa.
The bank won rights to sponsor the Kenya National Rally Championship to the tune of Sh105m (approx. Frw. 768m) over a three-year period that ends this year.
This year, it also injected Sh3.5 m (approx. Frw. 25m) in the KCB Pro-Am golf tour tournament.
KCB also spent Sh64m (approx. 266m) on sporting events in Kenya namely; rugby, football, basketball, volleyball and chess.
To further enhance brand visibility, the group continues its flagship sponsorships like the KCB Kenya Safari Rally, Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally and the KCB/Kenya National Cross Country Championships.
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