American ICT firm Digital Divide Data (DDD) to set up a business process outsourcing operation in Kenya.

DDD will invest Sh72 million (£900 000) in a 300-seater outsourcing centre that will handle call centre, data entry, electronic publishing and back-office operations.

The Rockefeller Foundation will fund the initial investment while Cisco and Microsoft will offer technology support.

Amolo Ng’weno managing director DDD in Kenya said between 70 and 80 per cent of the jobs that the firm will handle will be outsourced locally while the rest will come from the international market.
Service offerings

"Kenya is a dynamic market, leading companies are finally modernising their businesses... this is the right time for DDD to bring strong BPO service offerings to clients in East Africa," said

Ng’weno has experience in the country’s ICT industry having co-founded Africa Online in the 1990s. She later worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as deputy director for Financial Services for the Poor programme.

The move is seen as a growth in confidence among investors in the BPO business in Kenya. The industry has had a slow start and unable to secure major contracts despite having high-speed connectivity via the under sea fibre optic cables.

Slow satellite connection was in the past seen as the major hurdle for the sector. Other challenges – like capacity among outsourcing firms to handle certain calibre of jobs - have however cropped up.

DDD has operated in South East Asia for ten years and draws parallels with Kenya’s BPO industry and it challenges to that of countries like the sub continent in the late 1990s.

"When we went to Cambodia 10 years ago, many thought it could not be done but today, the country has a vibrant BPO industry," said Jeremy Hockenstein DDD global chief executive.

"We believe that there is huge potential and expect the sector to grow... in another five years or a bit more BPO will be a key sector for the economy."

DDD will recruit high school graduates aged between 18 and 24 and train them on BPO and call centre operations.

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