[kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths and Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches

[Adam Peake]

>I agree as well. The frequent misrepresentation 
>of facts, lack of analysis, even political 
>stories, that our media is so good at covering, 
>lack comprehensive political analysis.
>And while, one of the indicators of democracy is 
>freedom of press, and I believe ours is free, 
>with it comes all the negative aspects including 
>the sheer irresponsibility we have witnessed for 
>the past two years or so with terrible 
>consequences.
>
>Adam, notes that some foreign media , The 
>Financial Times for example have a positive 
>write up about the cable landing.


Hi,

I am not very knowledgeable about Kenya, I've 
just been fortunate enough to visit a couple of 
times -- the East Africa IGF was a great 
experience.  I follow the KICTANet list with 
great interest, but am not so confident about 
jumping in, please excuse my probably naive 
comments now!

As Alice mentioned, the Financial Times covered 
the cable landing in a positive way.  The FT is 
subscription only, but Google News seems to get 
around that, search for "Broadband 'lands' in 
east Africa".

In the Internet and communications sector that I 
cover (I work at a research institute in Tokyo), 
Kenya has a positive reputation for mobile, of 
course M-PESA, but perhaps just as significantly 
for the success of Celtel/Zain, which I think 
helped investors recognize that capital invested 
in Africa could provide a return similar to that 
of investment in Europe or Asia.

The cables landed/landing this year might be just 
as transformative, hopefully they will be. But as 
someone interested in what their impact might be, 
I have to say it is very difficult to get a clear 
picture of what happens now: a cable has landed, 
but what national broadband networks are in 
place, what's the backhaul nationally and to your 
landlocked neighbours? Transforming Kenya is one 
thing, transforming region of 120 million people 
is quite another.

I've read many comments about how the cost of 
bandwidth will drop, but all seem to be 
estimates. I've read about the Pasha Centres, but 
it's not easy to find definitive information 
about how they are being developed. And there's 
been nothing in the news about these centres or 
many other initiatives (if there were, then 
perhaps some of the more negative and trivial 
stories written last week about possible troubles 
with minor investors and environmental 
certificates when TEAMS landed would have been 
drowned out.)

My examples above are probably not good.  But 
what I'm trying to say is there seems to be a 
need for better information, and as a number of 
recent emails have suggested, better branding.

And I think it's necessary to see branding as 
more that an advertising campaign and positive 
press. South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak has 
created a Presidential Council on Nation 
Branding. The council is trying to determine 
what's popular about Korea, what impresses the 
world about Korea.  What are other countries' 
expectations, where can Korea make a difference, 
what values does the country possess that are 
attractive to others.  And of course what can be 
done to improve these perceptions of the national 
brand. Part of this is public relations, but it 
also goes a bit deeper, they are considering the 
notion of soft-power.

Kenya's obviously in a different situation from 
Korea, but there might be lessons. If the 
branding is to be a success then it seems a 
national champion needs to lead it. But if the 
focus of branding is to be just the ICT sector, 
then the champion might be closer to home: 
someone from CCK, ICT Board KICTANet, or the PS. 
Perhaps someone needs to 'work' Kenya's successes 
more. The East Africa IGF I mentioned is one 
small example, every time it's mentioned in the 
meetings I go to there's a positive buzz. However 
much we might criticize the global IGF process, 
it's quite an achievement that Kenya seems to 
have created what is seen as probably the IGF's 
biggest single success.

Best,

Adam



>If our local media can not choose to become part 
>of the solution to our country's challenges and 
>problems then I wonder what their role is?
>
>
>best
>alice
>
>
>p.s.Views expressed are personal and do not 
>reflect  the position/s of any of the 
>organisations/institutions I am affiliated with.
>
>
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------
>>I agree with Dr. Ndemo et al.  One of our 
>>greatest weakness is negative energy. And the 
>>root cause of this negative energy is 
>>tribalism. Our East African citizens (TZ,UG 
>>etc) know that Kenyans identify themselves 
>>first as being from their tribe, then 2nd as 
>>being from their clan and finally as being from 
>>their country ( the 'Navumulia' kua mkenya 
>>mentality). 
>>As noted by others, the sheer capacity of this 
>>negative energy will overide any marketing 
>>dollars that may be poured out there in "Brand 
>>Kenya" initiatives...There must be conscious 
>>and deliberate effort to sell Brand Kenya 
>>internally.  We have to find a way to celebrate 
>>our diversity rather than exagerate our 
>>differences...This to me should have been one 
>>of the pillars in the Vision 2030 because it 
>>wont happen overnite.
>>
>>walu.
>>
>>
>>
>>--- On Mon, 6/15/09, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>