<div>Morning Nyaki,</div>
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<div>You say "<em>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.</em>"</div>
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<div>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 <a href="http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539552/608168/-/item/1/-/3te68rz/-/index.html">http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539552/608168/-/item/1/-/3te68rz/-/index.html</a><br>
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<div>....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</div>
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<div>You say "<em>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.</em>"</div>
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<div>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. </div>
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<div>That brings me to your question for the day, and here are some suggestions.</div>
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<div>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" ?</div>
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<div>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.</div>
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<div>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)?</div>
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<div>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 <a href="http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7931">http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7931</a> 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. </div>
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<div>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.</div>
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<div>It was good while it lasted.</div>
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<div>Kind regards,</div>
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<div>David</div>
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Catherine Adeya <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:elizaslider@yahoo.com">elizaslider@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
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<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span>-- </span>Day 12 of 12- BPO Discussions, Wrapping Up --</span></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">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”. </span></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">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:</span></p>
<ol style="MARGIN-TOP: 0in" type="1">
<li style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">The policy, legal and institutional frameworks for BPO sector </span></li>
<li style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Subsidies accorded to BPO sector </span></li>
<li style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Human Capacity Issues</span></li>
<li style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span> </span>Youth and Gender Issues</span></li>
<li style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Strengths, Challenges and niches for Kenya as a BPO destination </span></li></ol>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">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: </span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">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, t<span>he 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</span></span></i><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"> <i>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. </i></span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">This draws me to the discussion question<i>: 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?</i></span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Let us discuss this today and any other gnawing issues in all the thematic areas as we wrap up.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Best,</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Nyaki</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"></span></p>
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