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KCB rally branches to East Africa

The Kenya Commercial Bank Group has launched the KCB East African Rally Challenge (EARC) 2010 series. The challenge includes KCB Safari Rally, KCB Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally and KCB Mountain Gorilla Rally. The series will cover the three countries this year with an additional event planned for Tanzania once discussions are concluded with the motor rallying authorities there. "The KCB EARC is without doubt, the toughest, most popular and exciting event in the regional rallying calendar. This sponsorship demonstrates the bank’s commitment to promote cordial relations and to support development of motorsports in the EAC region," said Sam Kimani, the Deputy CEO Group Controls. "The theme of the 2010 KCB East African Rally Challenge is ‘Bringing the region together’ The slogan is ‘Rallying without borders.’ This theme resonates well with the efforts being made by our leaders to open up East Africa for East Africans so that we can do business, invest and tour our sister countries without any hindrance. Approximately Sh35m has been set aside for the four rallies, with Sh19.2m going into direct sponsorship of the events and another Sh15m will be used to finance branding, hospitality and visibility. This is additional to Sh30m spent annually to sponsor the KCB Kenya National Rally Championships. KCB EARC series was inaugurated in 2008 to recognise the growing popularity of motor sports in the region. The series included KCB Safari Rally, Rally of Tanzania and KCB Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally. Over the years, the KCB EARC series has continued to attract new talents in motorsports.