Konza Technopolis has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Business Process Outsourcing Association of Kenya (BPOAK) to market Kenya as a business outsourcing destination.

The two will also develop favourable policies to attract BPOs and enhancement of digital skills among the youth making them employable.

“This MOU heralds a new dawn for the business process outsourcing as it will allow us to leverage on our strength and make Kenya the preferred investment destination,” John Paul Okwiri said during the signing ceremony.

The Association brings together organizations involved in business process outsourcing in the country with a vision of making Kenya a preferred and the largest BPO destination in Africa.  Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a method of subcontracting various business-related operations to third-party vendors. 

“As an association we are delighted to have this collaboration with Konza Technopolis because our members will enjoy numerous and tremendous benefits derived from Konza being a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and also with a ready infrastructure that allows plug and play for our members,” Roselyn Maundu Chairperson of BPOAK said.

Kenya is increasingly preferred as a BPO destination because of a number of factors such as, hosting 6 submarines fiber cables which provides reliable internet services, a well-educated human resource and higher English proficiency.

“Kenya has 2 million digital workers, we produce over 10,000 graduates per year, we are the second country in Africa on English proficiency and our labour cost is competitive hence a preferred destination,” Maundu added.

Konza Technopolis is a key flagship project of Kenya’s Vision 2030 economic development blue print that aims to transform Kenya into a middle-income country with higher standards of living for Kenyans. It’s tasked with developing a thriving sustainable smart city and a vibrant innovation ecosystem contributing to Kenya’s knowledge economy and contributing to the transformation of the Kenyan economy into a digitally driven economy.  

“We have a ready infrastructure for BPO investors to come plug and play. We have sufficient power through our green 400Kv substation and a ready pool of digitally skilled workforce through our Jitume Hubs,” Okwiri said.

The global BPO industry is estimated at $1 trillion and employing over 42 million people. However, Africa accounts for less than 2 million jobs due to low physical infrastructure development, less penetration of digital infrastructure, uncoordinated marketing and business sourcing and lack of enabling policies.

“This partnership with Konza Technopolis is expected to addressing some of these emerging challenges especially the availability of physical and digital infrastructure, reliable power supply and riding on the Jitume digital program where we will have access to ready skilled human resource,” Maundu added.