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

Tue Jun 16 18:05:34 EAT 2009

Thanks for your contributions Gilda and all, also kindly do not change the subject headers for ease of access and analysis for all and for the moderators. We will be able to glean the content once we access the message as the introductory email already laid out the issues including institutional framework.

Thanks again,

Nyaki

________________________________
From: "godera at skyweb.co.ke" <godera at skyweb.co.ke>
To: elizaslider at yahoo.com
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 3:03:51 PM
Subject: [kictanet] Institutional framework

Listers,

My last take on institutional framework:

There needs to be a body overseeing all these ministries.
It will determine which Ministry will handle which component (seeing how
different ministries are doing business parks etc and duplicating efforts).
And no, I do not see it having such a high budget. The savings it will make
across all ministries by eliminating all the duplication will be more than
enough to sustain it. 
This duplication of efforts is wasting scarce resources and needs to be managed.
In my view, an independent separate body would do. It will simply be there to
evaluate and coordinate all BPO activities across all ministries and "home"
them. A one stop BPO body. 

Gilda Odera
Quoting David Otwoma <otwomad at gmail.com>:

> 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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> >
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> >
> 

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