[kictanet] Develop the LOCAL outsourcing market

[John Walubengo]

Very timely ideas.  Indeed we must grow the 'local'
outsourcing markets particularly in view of the current
doubts and jitters from international clients arising from
the post-election crisis.  

I believe the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) turned 'local' a
few years back when the toursit sector nose-dived in the
mid-90s and they were positively suprised to find a willing
middle-class. All they (KTB) needed to do to mature the
domestic market was to tweak the rates while promoting the
holidays during the 'low'-seasons i.e when the hotels are
largely empty.  

Maybe the BPO industry can pull similar moves to mature the
domestic BPO industry.

walu.

--- Paul Kukubo <pkukubo at ict.go.ke> wrote:

> Marcel
> 
> Thanks for this email and I am glad that you have flagged
> two important
> issues.
> 
> 1. Outsourcing creats jobs
> 
> 2. Local outsourcing is critical.
> 
> One would have to agree that the biggest potential source
> of outsource jobs
> in Kenya is the Corporate Sector and the Government. Both
> are not really big
> outsourcers at the moment. None of them is doing large
> outsourcing of
> customer service (through call centres) or data
> processing.
> 
> The Kenya ICT Board believes that local outsourcing is
> what will give this
> industry momentum. I will therefore follow on the local
> opportunities you
> mention specifically in your email in order to establish
> what we can do as a
> board to support the industry. Here we need KIF's
> partnership to establish
> where this actual opportunities lie and to speak to the
> decision makers in
> the context of a private public partnership.
> 
> Incidentally, I have spoken to the CEO at KEPSA to agree
> a date in March
> when the board will to meet with the larger corporations
> to understand their
> outsourcing strategies if any and to help encourage them
> to look at local
> companies favourably. We need to know whether decision
> makers feel there are
> challenges to this participation by local firms. The
> campaign to outsource
> work locally has our support. It is part of our strategy.
> 
> One would have to agree that there are many reasons for
> the Kenya
> Governement to consider developing outsourcing. By
> unbundling service
> delivery, Government can deliver services better to
> citizens. As part of our
> strategy, the board is building a case for a formal
> governnment approach to
> outsourcing. This is one of the ways to create self
> sufficiency and jobs in
> the economy.When we present our strategic plan to the
> industry in March, we
> shall detail this.
> 
> My challenge to the IT enabled services sector, (which
> includes Outsourcing,
> software development, systems support etc ) is that we
> also have to build
> strong businesses and partner with world class firms
> where it helps.
> 
> My experience in the sector is that there is lots of work
> out there, but
> alot if it is actually outsourced offshore. We dont want
> a situation where
> the Board goes out building the case for outsourcing and
> we get in what is
> relatively low value work, only for the higher value work
> locally to be
> offshored.  They way to mitigate this is to build strong
> local business
> lobbies (as we are doing through KIF etc), to be
> aggressive in partnering to
> deliver to contracts and to develop local skills.
> 
> As the board, we have a mandate to ensure outsourcing is
> developed and
> people are employed in the process.
> 
> As the outsourcing sector is also suffering due to
> Kenya's reputation
> currently, one of the mitigating actions is to build
> local outsourcing.
> 
> On 2/11/08, Marcel Werner <marcelcwerner at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > We are encouraged by the developments in the BPO
> Sector. The recent
> > meeting between Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society and
> the ICT Board
> > revealed steps in the right direction as regards
> engagement by local
> > entities and more specifically, Government, in taking
> the lead in
> > outsourcing. The positive engagement between the BPO
> Society and The
> > Ministry of Special Projects in establishing a
> call/contact center facility
> > for the easy access by the displaced and other
> dis-enfranchised Kenyans
> > following the recent sad events is a commendable
> effort.
> >
> > I am informed that the Kenya Police was severely
> constrained and could
> > hardly cope with the numerous distress calls that it
> received because of
> > inadequate technological systems. They may also
> similarly be looking to
> > enhance their capability.
> >
> > Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a healthy
> practice and common
> > business sense that helps improve efficiency. Farming
> out
> > non-mission-critical tasks to specialised service
> providers creates jobs.
> > Not only if the client is off-shore, but also if the
> client is local and now
> > more focused on its core business, thereby becoming
> more competitive and
> > cost-effective. We have not seen much evidence that we
> are scouting around
> > at home for BPO opportunities, more urgent now that the
> country's
> > international image has taken a beating during the past
> few weeks. Those
> > locally based companies that have capabilities to offer
> BPO services should
> > be given more support, also from locally based clients.
> This is good for the
> > economy, and good for the BPO industry.
> >
> > Positive steps being taken by the Kenya ICT Board in
> promoting Kenya as an
> > Outsource destination should be fully supported. More
> should also be done by
> > the local business that should equally be encouraged to
> outsource. Some,
> > like Safaricom, had made some indications towards
> outsourcing and nobody
> > knows where this process ended. The Kenya ICT Board,
> The Ministry of ICT and
> > other ICT Sector Associations should be urged to lobby
> for such
> > opportunities to be given to local BPO Operators, not
> only because it
> > enables job creation in these hard times, but also
> because it helps
> > establish a local competence and capability that we
> need before we embark on
> > the international leg of selling Kenya as an outsource
> destination.
> >
> > What are the industry players doing in encouraging
> this? Over to you
.
> >
> > Marcel Werner, chairman Kenya ICT Federation -
> www.kif.or.ke
> >
> > please send any office correspondence to:
> > marcelwerner at innovation-africa.net
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> Paul Kukubo
> Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board
> PO Box 27150 - 00100
> Nairobi, Kenya
> 
> Teleposta Towers 10th Floor
> 
> Tel direct: +254 20 2089062/251152
> Fax: +254 20 315147
> Cell: + 254 733 739488
> 
> website: www.ict.go.ke
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