BPOs crucial for Kenya’s Vision 2030 goals
NAIROBI, KENYA — The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry will play a pivotal role in transforming Kenya into a globally competitive economy as envisioned in Vision 2030, the country’s development blueprint.
According to SAMA Vice President Annepeace Alwala and Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) Acting CEO Hussein Adan, the BPO sector presents immense potential to accelerate economic growth and job creation — in line with the country’s Vision 2030 goals of becoming an industrialized middle-income nation
The Kenyan government has identified BPO as a priority growth sector under Vision 2030. Specific targets include creating over 200,000 high-quality jobs in the industry and growing its GDP contribution to 10% by 2030.
Significant progress is already underway, with leading BPO employers like Sama creating over 4,000 jobs in Kenya by leveraging the country’s strong talent pool. The firm also aims to employ 2,000 additional youth and women for upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) projects.
The BPO sector also catalyzed Kenya’s progress in high-tech areas like artificial intelligence by enabling key data annotation and model validation services exports. The government has invested heavily in digital infrastructure and skills development initiatives to facilitate the sector’s expansion.
However, Alwala and Adan stated that continued growth requires addressing challenges like infrastructure limitations, skill gaps, and unfavorable regulations.
Both experts also believe that the industry’s success will hinge on collaborative efforts between the government and private sector to nurture a thriving ecosystem and deliver Vision 2030’s transformative economic agenda.
The BPO industry’s development is therefore indispensable for Kenya to achieve its ambitions of becoming a prosperous digital economy.
Just last month, EPZA announced that it would start integrating BPO firms into its economic zones to enhance services and provide more working space options for investors beyond just the garment and apparel industries.