Hi Gentlemen (and Ladies),

Kindly, who may have proper information about Konza Technology City? It is in the news, then not, then in the news again.

Will the Gov't really pull-off this thing, or may be dumped because of Tatu City and others? You never know with Kenyan politics and other interests ....

Thanks

Well said, thanks.

Well said because I was reading the East African where it was said Kenya had agreed with Uganda to build the Mombasa to Kampala Railway line ..... but now the Chinese have come in and things have changed ....the story is here:


http://www.theeastafrica.../-/o2jrdqz/-/index.html

Let us hope that the Konza Project does not suffer the same fate.

Thanks, great day.

only the new constitution is limiting and I kept saying its bad !!

In the news: http://goo.gl/HhMBa

I like Kibaki. I believe he's the best president Kenya has ever had and no one will match his achievements in many years to come. That said I have no doubt that the maximum years we must give to any President is 10 because after that power gets into your head and you think you're either ordained by God, or you're a god or you are the only choice eg M7, Mugabe, Amin etc These were people with very good intentions but that was then.

@sungura2005, I don't know where you get your wage data from, but the cost of Indian BPO from the Fortune 500 perspective is about 1/3 of that of a US worker and raising fast due to inflation on the Indian side. In addition, Kenyans have better English-speaking and cultural-relation skills by far, because Kenya was not long ago a British colony that absorbed a great deal of UK culture, and has an English-based curriculum in schools. Kenyan BPO is about 1/6 the cost salary-wise, sometimes less. In addition, the quality from India so far as been overall fairly poor, as many F500 companies have found out, and many online surveys from reputable organizations such as Gartner will point out.

Kenya simply needs to market her BPO serivces better... get some of the Mzungus that live there that are so "pro Kenya" into suits and out in the US and UK as salespeople with golf clubs and fistfulls of kitu kidogo money. That's how it's done. You have to go make deals and grease wheels. Treat some US and UK execs to safaris, golf vacations, and wild times in Malindi and minds change and soften. Once the US and UK start to see contracts with Kenyan BPO firms being signed by US and UK companies, and the press releases roll, the floodgates will open.

There's no use building Konza if there isn't going to be an active, hard-core push not just to get investment, but to make investments by doing, on a large scale, precisely what I have prescribed, and by making forays into also building out some business and consumer tech and even aviation tech manufacturing or at least assembly and repair plants, as well as tech distribution centers that will bypass US, UK, SA, India, and Dubai as a direct link to China and South Korea, as well as adding value adds such as local marketing, warranty services, consulting, etc. that will serve the whole continent as the central point for such services.

We have to conquer the value-add.

Best,

Hill

@sungura2005, firstly, you gave a lot of non-related information that happens to be about isolated happinings, or just general information about India and Kenya, but none of it proves that India BPO is less costly or more effective than Kenya. You also showed no proof of salary differences by a broad sampling- only one case, and a poor case at that.

But if you want sources that state what I am stating about the eroding cost savings, inherent problems, and poor quality of Indian BPO services, then let me GOOGLE that FOR YOU:

The Coming Death of Indian Outsourcing?

http://seekingalpha.com/...h-of-indian-outsourcing



No More Outsourcing To India And China, US Is The New Destination

http://profy.com/2009/03...ina-us-new-destination/



Why Outsourcing Sucks

http://diovo.com/2008/08/why-outsourcing-sucks/



Outsourcing clients worried over BPO staff quality

http://www.bpowatchindia..._bpo_staff_quality.html


Outsourcing and the fall of the professional programmer

http://www.ebizq.net/blo.../04/outsourcing_and.php


How Much Longer Will Indian Outsourcers Offer Cost Advantages?

http://seekingalpha.com/...s-offer-cost-advantages


I'm sure that you, using Google, can find tons more sites backing up what I'm saying on your own.

You come off as dismissive to the feasibility of Kenyan BPO services, and that's just ridiculous. The fact of the matter is that when you have an educated, capable workforce that speaks English natively (huge advantage), proper technology usage and penetration, high unemployment, and low wages, you are in the perfect market for creating BPO service firms. You say that "investors would rather have them in India" but this isn't a question of where investors would rather anything. This is a challenge to set the firm up and then send a salesforce out abroad to get customers. Forget about "investors" and think about customers. If the price is right, the quality is high- the value is good- and the deal is struck, it will happen, and you haven't given any hard reasons why it cannot or will not. Even the rest of the African continent and the Middle East market is up for grabs, let alone the US and UK!

There are no excuses here. It will happen when Kenyan firms make it happen regardless of what India, China, Russia, or anyone else does.

And the fact that D'Sousa, Kenyan born, is creating more jobs in India, NOT KENYA, furthers my point on this and all the other posts that I've made about how there are so many people from all over waiving the Kenyan flag, when it's convenient, but what team you play for is evident in who you are scoring for. You can be born in Kenya all day long, but if your loyalty lies in the UK, the US, or India, then what is the point? We need true KENYAN businesses, employing KENYANS, spending money and paying taxes in KENYA.

Best,

Hill

Hello KenyanLyrics,

True, there are firms, and the effort is there, but the execution isn't. It's just the same as when I scolded the Kenya Tourism Board for the fact that I had never, ever, once seen a commercial for a Kenyan Safari Holiday advertised in US TV, Radio, or Internet media, and neither had any of my friends, family, or colleagues, and that they should at least advertise on dealnews.com, and months later, they were doing so and today I can get a safari deal on dealnews.com and friends are now saying "ah, Kenya!". Or when I said months ago of the telecoms that the fight is not in the streets around voice, but around data and the availability of it, along with pre-packaged media and and specialty local content- the value add- the "dumb pipe plus", and months later, they scramble to reach it. Or that AccessKenya would tank because they were too busy laying fiber and adding capacity to wake up and realize that they were trying to build what they thought customers needed at the moment, instead of asking them.

It's not that I have a crystal ball or a time machine. What this is is that Kenya in some ways is going through what the US has gone through, in an interesting, "compressed time" sort of way. Some things I see are things that have happened 1 year ago, some 5, some 10, some 25, some 50. That's the value of the diaspora. They have seen it, and Kenyans at home can build it- they are fully capable. I have been in media and technology for about 16 years. I can see the trends when they are coming because I've been through them and worked in them in the US. One can look at mistakes made by the US companies, and even the Indian companies, and learn, and do better, IF one commits to do so.

But to swing the topic of conversation back around to Kenyan BPO firms, I have seen some very pretty offices, some very impressive people, competent teams, and proper technologies in place. But what I haven't seen is TV commercials on the US business TV networks advertising Kenya as a BPO paradise, I haven't seen Kenyan reps in Atlanta, Dallas, LA, DC, NY, Boston- areas with heavy representation of Kenyans, pounding the concrete and attending Chamber of Commerce meetings, venture capital meetings, etc. and most importantly, I haven't seen Mzungu Kenyan salespeople over here doing what must always be done in Western big business, courting the big decision-makers and whisking them away to the coast in private jets to beach holidays, safaris, golf trips, etc. or just even to the ATM ;) in order to soften their minds and to present to them the future of BPO- Kenya.

What I do see is India and China doing just that. And I also hear a lot of bad information and nay-sayers on the ground in Kenya (and I'm not pointing fingers here) always saying what Kenya cannot do because of this or that, and a lot of that information is believed, because those who say it may carry a certain heritage, nationality, or pedigree, and that's rubbish.

Can Kenyan coffee rightly dominate the market and be recognized as the premium product it is? Yes. Can Kenya start manufacturing 100% of it and East Africa's own pharmaceuticals? Absolutely. Can Kenya be a repair hub for Boeing and Embraer and repair planes for all of East and Central Africa? Certainly. Can Kenyan BPO become a "household phrase" in businesses around the world that need high quality, low cost, English-speaking on-demand teams? Sure... let's put together the right team with the proper mission.

It's just like Konza... don't build 7 billion worth of beautiful buildings, parks, lakes, high-speed rail, etc. if you don't first either get the people/firms/businesses to fill it, or just fill it yourself with your own self-funded ventures, start-ups, or grant recipients. Give a little away to local talent- entice the pretty ladies [some employees, some outsiders] to enter the club early, for free, so the men will come, see the club full of talent, and readily pay. Just get it filled and operating. Not to do so would be repeating the mistakes of AccessKenya in building out mass capacity without getting customers to need it first... and then not having the checks streaming in when the first bill comes. Every brick should be spoken for after it is planned, but right before it is laid.

At some point you have to just DO BUSINESS. It might take CEOs and managers that just don't know and can't see the limitations and therefore marches right past them. It might take you and I.

Best,

Hill