Kenya Eyes BPO

Last week, Africa Information and Technology Events and Conferences (AITEC) held a two-day meet in Nairobi, to assess Kenya's potential to play in the emerging business process outsourcing market, expected to reach $145 billion, worldwide, by 2008. According to Okuttah Mark of the East African Standard, who attended the conference, entrepreneurs and investors concur that Kenya -- with its prevailing low wages, high unemployment, and relatively well-educated and English-speaking urban population is in many ways an ideal location for BPO data-entry and customer-contact centers.

Mark quotes Nick Nesbitt, of Kencall, a contact center startup, who notes that Kenyans generally speak English with a distinct British accent, making for rapid training and good acceptance by UK, Western European and North American callers.

Inhibiting the infant industry: lack of present investment, high telecommunications costs, and lack of infrastructure. Peres Were, of Cascade Global Kenya, a BPO consultancy, suggests that companies pool resources and share expense of infrastructure buildouts -- a practice he suggests can lower the cost-per-seat to as little as $1,500 to equip a contact center worker. During the conference, Were called on the Kenya Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information to set aside space in current Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and commit to installing IP and telecom infrastructure sufficient to incubate BPO outsourcing businesses.

Meanwhile, investors take note: the Kenyan government has already put in place a system of liberal tax and duty breaks for companies doing business in the EPZs, including a ten year corporate income tax exemption, parallel withholding exemption, and exemption from import duty, stamp duty and VAT.

Posted by John Jainschigg at 10:27 AM  Permalink

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