[kictanet] Kenyan Diaspora Conference - a mini report

Tue Oct 18 17:35:22 EAT 2011

Matunda

Thanks for the updates. I can see you are still keeping the fire burning
since the days of KCA with kina Justus and Rugutt and all those other guys.

This is a great report.

What we would probably want you guys to do is to identify the sector
specialists amongst yourselves that we could then organize guys here back
home to tap into for specific knowledge acquisition or to find suitable
partners/venture capitalists over there to buy into to offer technical
support and expand capacity and even tap into international markets.

Partnerships can be both ways. There are opportunities here that you don't
know about and there are technologies/expertise there our people don't know
and I think synergies can be created if we start by knowing who we have.

Otherwise superb job summarizing the conference

Regards

James Mbugua

On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 5:08 PM, Matunda Nyanchama <
mnyanchama at aganoconsulting.com> wrote:

>
> I had sought some input from the list on what I would raise in my panel
> whose focus was on the state of ICT in Kenya and associated opportunities of
> the Diaspora. It was full house given we had 5 people to share one hour, we
> didn't do much justice to the presenters. We have sent feedback to the
> organizers (the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC) to better structure such
> events in the future. Indeed, it is unfair for people to travel across the
> Atlantic prepared to speak for one+ hours only to get 5 mins, exactly what
> happened in all sessions. This conference was, realistically a 4~5 day
> affair.
>
>  That said, the event was attended by more than 500 people with close to
> 200 turned away because of failure to register in time. (And contrary to
> media reports, President Obama wasn't in the invited list; the embassy had
> requested presence of the First Lady but her calendar was fully booked, a
> matter she communicated in time.)
>
>  The conference was a great networking event; and the energy in the place
> was palpable! The attendance was higher than we have come to expect of
> Kenyan conferences and expectations were even higher.
>
>  Sessions (plenary and breakout) were packed as attendees sought
> information, ideas, issues, etc on how to get engaged in the country's
> affairs. And the speakers did superbly. Vision 2030 was at the centre of the
> presentation and director, Mugo Kibati gave a good update on where the
> process is at the moment.
>
> I must say that many in the Diaspora weren't even aware of such projects as
> Konza City, the Northern Corridor infrastructure project, the Urban Commuter
> Rail project in Greater Nairobi, and more. There were update on the reform
> process, dual citizenship, national integration, and more. Discussions also
> centred on collaboration (business, academia, etc) between the Diaspora and
> going beyond remittances (estimated to be $1.7 billion last year) and some
> companies, notably CIS offering products targeted at the Diaspora market.
> The scope of companies presenting ranged from ICT, financing, and more.
>
> We also had a chance to honour the late Wangari Maathai (RIP); the tributes
> were moving and if only dead people could speak, she would choose to stay
> alive and enjoy the glory and adoration accorded her.
>
> We heard of success cases spearheaded by the Diaspora, e.g.. the gentleman
> that influenced GE to locate its headquarters in Nairobi.
>
> As indicated, I chaired the ICT panel where, among others Eunice Kariuki
> represented the ICT Board. Despite time constraints she gave a superb report
> on what is happening in this sphere and especially the exciting Konza City!
> (Here presentation is attached). Of interest from the same panel is a
> presentation (also attached) by Akumu of Intelsat on use of vsat technology
> to penetrate rural Kenya.
>
> In my opening remarks I talked about the $196 billion "unclaimed" BPO
> market, really a tip of the iceberg of the size of the market, which is
> approx $500 billion. I have also seen reports that the Kenyan ICT market is
> approx $700 million annually! And my challenge was to the Diaspora to help
> ensure this duly benefits the nation. And they can contribute as investors,
> managers (given all the skills they have acquired), researchers and more.
>
> I also cited challenges with our Kenyan market:  corruption (the cost of
> doing business?), infrastructure (remember those traffic jams), unreliable
> power (what with blackouts), corporate taxes (33%), business registration
> that takes longer than in many countries, compliance and reporting
> procedures (too many!); and lengthy dispute resolution. All these act as
> disincentives to investment and need keen attention from authorities.
>
> Finally, my reading is that the Kenyan Renaissance is underway; we position
> ourselves well and we will take off; we fail to do so and we may not
> recover. The analogy if that of torrential rains which if harnessed can
> generate power, irrigate farms, provide clean drinking water, etc; and if
> not harnessed can cause floods and associated havoc.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Matunda Nyanchama, PhD, CISSP; mnyanchama at aganoconsulting.com
> Agano Consulting Inc.;  www.aganoconsulting.com; Twitter: nmatunda;
> <http://twitter.com/#%21/nmatunda>Skype: okiambe
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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