[kictanet] Day 12 of 12 -- BPO Discussions, Wrapping Up

Tue Jun 16 09:10:42 EAT 2009

Morning Nyaki,

You say "*For example, both KICTB and MoHEST are planning for technology/BPO
parks. This is likely to lead to duplication of effort, differences in the
messages communicated to stakeholders and confusion on the part of investors
with respect to whom to deal with, amongst other problems.*"

We were 'lucky' to have been involved, as advisers to GoK (one of the
crucial mandates of National Council of Science and Technology) in the
formative task forces set to see to it that we do not miss out on the ICT &
Science and Technology Parks development. At the technocrat level we reached
the stage where the need to merge efforts (additionally Ministry of
Industrialization has Industrial Parks; Ministry of Trade has Incubation
Parks etc.) was clearly communicated to decision makers. The coming up of
the Special Economic Zones later should have assuaged the fears expressed in
your quote above, however many commentators e.g. "On the ICT side, however,
there seems to be some laxity. Not much has been heard about the Business
Process Outsourcing Park which the minister earmarked Sh900 million for its
construction." see
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539552/608168/-/item/1/-/3te68rz/-/index.html
....appear to side with you and hence on that matter lets rest the case as
the month of June draws to a close. However, shs. 400 million of the above
money was used to buy (pay for deposit) land in Arthi River area, and sadly
the shs. 500 million may be returned confirming the title of the above story
i.e. Broken promises, wrong plans in last budget

You say "*Whether it is a consequence of this lack of devolution or not, the
M&E capacity of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Kenya ICT
Board and all the other institutions highlighted earlier is weak.*"

We may have to look at 'independent entities' for a way forward on this one.
Drawing from the debacle during the supplementary budget when the 'typo cum
computer error' was detected by MARS group and later brought to the
attention of the rest of the parliamentarians by one MP, it may pay to look
outward for effective M&E. This is why it makes sense to strengthen, say the
Kenya BPOCC Society (as concerns BPO issues) which is composed of
individuals and entities that represent private, public and academia.

That brings me to your question for the day, and here are some suggestions.

1. We need to walk the talk. Imagine if the shs 500 million bound to be
returned to Treasury for lack of "absorptive capacity" had the Ministry of
I&C, CCK and KICTB calling for a stakeholders forum (composed mainly of BPO
operators and academia plus even the Kenya BPOCC Society) to give them a way
out (how to spend it) and hence not have a situation of "Broken promises,
wrong plans in last budget" ?

2. Coordination between decision makers who do not trust one another is an
unrealistic expectation. What may work is akin to what made the Two
Principals accept (shingo upande) to form a GCG. The desire certainly did
not come from their mutual liking but pressure from .... yes you and me as
citizens of our beloved Kenya and some nudge from the International parties
with vested interests.

3. Taking the S. African route may pay faster that hoping for the Indian
case as concerns clients for BPO work. S. Africa built a strong local
outsourcing before venturing out to obtain international work. Here again
GoK needs to be made to walk the talk....imagine if the Judiciary let
transcription work be done by young (wo)men who now are joining in their
droves to illegal outfits (making non Kenyans think all our unemployed young
ones are Mungiki adherents)?

4. If 3 out of every 100 eighteen year olds are not able to access
University education because of inability to pay the university fees what
makes us (in GoK for example) shy off the Egyptian model (see
http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7931 for Egyptian
case of incentives like rental and training subsidies between 85% and 100%)
so as to open doors to the young ones instead of lamenting that the Media is
being negative when they make a headline story of how a Crisis is unfolding
as we open and blink our eyes.

Have to run off to MoHE,S&T workshop for validation of Science, Technology
and Innovation Bill, University Bill and Technical, Industrial, Vocational
and Entrepreneurship Training Bill.

It was good while it lasted.

Kind regards,

David

On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider at yahoo.com>wrote:

>  -- Day 12 of 12- BPO Discussions, Wrapping Up --
>
> After extremely interesting discussions yesterday, where I summarized once
> or twice during the day, we would like to bring the BPO discussion to a
> close. It was very interesting to see that many of you were concerned that
> the media is portraying Kenya negatively and this could (or maybe was)
> affecting some of the decisions of potential investors. Some in the media
> fraternity responded that they really must report what is there and that
> their priority is Kenyans not foreigners first. As one said “…bottomline-
> the media can’t just be improvised to promote the interests of the business
> and capitalist class. There are the rest of us citizens whose welfare, life
> and worries too must be reported”.
>
> Thank you to all of you who have actively participated both online and
> offline (directly to the moderators sometimes) during the last 12 days. To
> recap, we have covered the following themes:
>
>    1. The policy, legal and institutional frameworks for BPO sector
>    2. Subsidies accorded to BPO sector
>    3. Human Capacity Issues
>    4.  Youth and Gender Issues
>    5. Strengths, Challenges and niches for Kenya as a BPO destination
>
> As we wrap up today I believe we could have done more justice to the
> institutional framework issue. More specifically I draw from the conclusion
> of the institutional framework summary and the question:
>
> *In conclusion for Kenya, it can be observed that there is an overlap
> between KenInvest and the Kenya ICT Board when it comes to promotion of
> Kenya as an investment destination to potential investors. There could be
> other overlaps as well. For example, both KICTB and MoHEST are planning for
> technology/BPO parks. This is likely to lead to duplication of effort,
> differences in the messages communicated to stakeholders and confusion on
> the part of investors with respect to whom to deal with, amongst other
> problems. In addition, there is need to coordinate between ICT Board,
> KenInvest, EPC and MoEST. The big question is: Who will perform the
> coordination? Finally, the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Directorate in
> the Ministry of Planning has never been devolved into the ministries and
> public enterprises. Whether it is a consequence of this lack of devolution
> or not, the M&E capacity of the Ministry of Information and Communications,
> Kenya ICT Board and all the other institutions highlighted earlier is weak.
> At the same time, the institutional framework for Vision 2030 is in the
> formation* *stages and, even if it were to develop strong M&E
> capabilities, it may not be able to marshal enough power to ensure
> corrective action is taken by the concerned institutions in a timely manner.
> *
>
> This draws me to the discussion question*: What needs to be done to
> improve/strengthen the institutional framework in order for the BPO and
> outsourcing sector to play its planned role in the Kenyan economy?*
>
> Let us discuss this today and any other gnawing issues in all the thematic
> areas as we wrap up.
>
> Best,
>
> Nyaki
>
>
>
>
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