CanKenyatrulycompeteintheglobalmarket?AccordingtoICTPrincipalSecretary John Tanui,KenyaisrapidlybecomingthedigitalgatewaytoEasternandCentralAfrica.
Hereferred to the world-class submarine cable connectivity, growing data centre capacity and a governmentthatisheavilycommittedtocreatingtherightconditionsforglobaltechinvestment.
Thedatasupportshisassessment.Kenyaisnowpositionedtobeamajorplayerintheglobal outsourcing market. But there are still some major gaps that need to be addressed.
Kenyaisgettingsomeattentioncurrently,butcanitconvertthatattentionintodecisiveactionby foreign investors? These companies are evaluating Kenya on more than a few recent improvements alone; they are assessing stability and long-term factors to know if this is just hype or a legitimate opportunity. They will ultimately base their decision on facts and data that point to a secure and good investment.
The Ataraxis Global Outsourcing Index,whichtracks193countriesandcomparesthemacross labour costs, English language skills, talent depth, digital infrastructure and business stability, recently ranked Kenya #11 of 193.
Looking at the data it’s easy to see why Kenya scored so highly. With a composite score of 81.625outof100,Kenyaisinthetopsix per centintheworldasanoutsourcinglocation.Kenya is thirdin Africa for English proficiency and 19th globally.Labourcostsaresignificantlylowerthanmost of the Western world, including every European country and every North American country, making Kenya a prime candidate for foreign investors.
Digital infrastructure is also improving and moving in the right direction. As PS Tanui noted, Kenyaalreadyhostsmultipleworld-classdatacentres,includingIXAfrica,AfricaDataCentres and the Konza National Data Centre.
Kenya also benefits from more than eight international submarine cables landing in Mombasa, creating a level of connectivity redundancy and lower latency that regional competitors cannot match. Major global corporations, like Oracle, haveconfirmed plans to establish a cloud region in Kenya,whichisaverystrongindicatorofforeign interest and opportunity in the future.
So,whatisholdingKenyabackfromtheglobaltopfive?
Kenya’s top competitors have been in the space for much longer and have already established strong environments that support global outsourcing. The Philippines(#1) and Malaysia(#2) have been key players in the market for decades and throughout their countries have strong digitalinfrastructurethatsurpassKenya’s. India,the#3country,tiesKenyaintheareaofdigital infrastructure, showcasing that while a score of 50 leaves much to be desired, small changes can place Kenya easily within the top 5 outsourcing destinations.
Currently, Kenya’s strengths are highly concentrated. Nairobi’s Westlands and Kilimani district aregenuinelyworld-classenvironmentsfordigitalbusinessbutitisnotthesamethroughoutthe country. Outside of those areas connectivity and power reliability can be unstable enough to give pause to corporate procurement teams.
Thisiswhythegovernment’scurrentinvestmentagendamatterstremendously.The state’scommitments to building 1,450 digital hubs across every single ward,expandingterrestrial fibre and aggressively growing the data centre ecosystem are building the future for Kenya.
Every ward equipped with reliable, high-speed fibre internet is another community that can actively participate in the global digital economy. PS Tanui has spoken boldly about growing Kenya’sdigitaleconomyfromitscurrent$7billion toanimpressive$100billionby2035.That targetisincrediblyambitious.ButwhenconsideringKenya’spositionaboveothercountriesin the ranking, it’s easy to see it is not an outlandish goal.
TheonefactorthatwilllimitKenya’sopportunitytoseizethisfutureisitsspeedof implementation.
The global outsourcing market moves incredibly fast and changes quickly as nations adjust policies,courtforeigninvestors orintroducemeasuresthataccelerateorhindergrowth.It’san ebb and flow of movement constantly. Many other nations have their eyes on the same prize and are also working to improve their weaknesses to attract investments from global corporations.
The question isn’t whether Kenya has the potential to become a top-five global outsourcing destination, but whether Kenya will move fast enough to claim it. With so many other nations acrossAfricaandtheglobechasingtheexactsamedigitaldollars,theglobalrankingswilllook verydifferentinayearortwo.
WhetherKenyaclimbsintothetopfiveordropsdowntheladder depends entirely on its speed today. If Kenya gets this right, it won’t just be a win for its economic statistics; it will permanently transform the lives of millions of young Kenyans by connecting local talent to global wealth.
Co-founder and head of partnerships at Ataraxis
