New initiative to address training gap in BPO sector

By FREDRICK OBURA

The Government, in conjunction with the World Bank, has established a centre of excellence to address the training gap in the Business Processing and Outsourcing sector (BPO).

The Centre, known as, COE will boost training in areas like technology, communication and personality skills in three different levels.

The training is aimed at making BPO employees all-rounded in handling various jobs in the sector and save investors time in the retraining exercise.

The training centre is particularly critical to the country’s fledgling industry because universities and colleges lack sector-specific BPO specific courses. This has pushed investors in the sector to spend more in training their employees.

The initiative will receive $2 million from the World Bank.

"This project will help mitigate the costs of running a BPO centre," said Prof Timothy Waema, COE local consultant.

Huge potential

"In the past, investors have had to spend more in training their employees to prepare them for the BPO tasks," he said. "This has increased overhead costs for the industry in the country."

It is estimated that the BPO sector has huge potential and could generate up to Sh45 billion annually and provide 80,000 jobs by 2014. According to a section of BPO operators, if well harnessed, the BPO is a potential money-spinner.

In order for the sector to grow, however, industry observers argue there is need to boost the talent pool through training and skills development.

"The Centre will impart training to Kenya’s trainers in order to prepare them for training a large number of students for employment in the IT-BPO sector," said Waema.

"In the next five years, the center will train about 5,000 students and produce another 2,000 students yearly afterwards, this would considerably help in addressing the human resource gap in the sector," he said.

Information and Communication PS Dr Bitange Ndemo says the initiative to begin a centre of excellence was partly triggered by early gains the industry has made in the past few years.

Ndemo says besides investment in the Internet infrastructure, the ministry has also proposed building an ICT park at Malili, outside Nairobi.

Capacity building

He says in the long run, the centre, coupled with better marketing strategies, is the only way to ensure the right return on investment and a step towards boosting the country’s standing as a business outsourcing hub.

Known as Malili Technopolis, the centre heralds the advent of satellite cities hosting facilities to support BPO ventures, a science park, a convention centre, shopping malls, hotels, schools and health facilities.

Similar cities exist in Malaysia (PutraJaya), Panama (Pacifico), the Philippines (Subic-Clark) and China (Shenzhen).

Waema says the facility will partner with local institutions to build capacity and skills development through research and development.

The COE concept comes at a time when the BPO sector is taking off, buoyed by improved Internet speed via the two submarine fibre optic cables.

Improved Internet speeds have seen most operators diversify their offerings to include data, software development and IT-enabled services, an area that requires specialised workers.

The growing interest by investors has also seen the relatively small industry pick unprecedented momentum.

Lucy Mwatibo, the director of Ken Tech Data says the launch of the centre of excellence answers the need for specialised skills in the IT-related services, also known as Knowledge Processing and Outsourcing.

"As we explore Knowledge Processing and Outsourcing sub-sector, including web design, and trouble shooting, the centre will boost our capacities in this area," she said.

In the national ICT Strategy 2006, the Government has placed a premium on the BPO industry as key to building the knowledge economy.

Besides investing in capacity building of personnel, some industry players say there is need to market the country as a competitive outsourcing hub.

There are over 40 registered BPO operators in the country. However, only a few are operational. Some have been forced to spend on individual self-marketing, while others have changed their business models to incorporate other services.

Operators accuse the Information Ministry of being slow on formulating policies and legal framework that govern operations of the industry.

"The ministry has in place strategies to market the industry but they are slow in executing the plan, which is affecting our business," said one operator.

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