Kenya Wants A Slice Of The BPO Pie
Source: Reuters
As Kenya eyes the BPO pie, could it be that instead of Bangalore, it is Nairobi that banking customers from rich western countries talk to next year?
So far, Kenya, has been impeded from participating competitively in the call centre industry, due to poor communications links to the rest of world. However, the laying down of the first fibre optic cable in east Africa by mid-2008, it banks on it boosting its status as the region’s top performing economy.
Many Kenyan entrepreneurs hope this, plus cheap labour, clear accents, and customer fatigue with Indian call centres will help the African country hook into the burgeoning call centre and outsourcing industry, which is worth a cool $130-billion, worldwide.
Optimistic and upbeat, they hope once the technology is in place, the Kenya’s industry will have no problems taking on established call centre hubs in India and the Philippines.
Cascade Global, an outsourcing advisory firm, estimates its current size at 3,000-employees and $5-million in revenues, barely a couple of years after setting up its first call centre.
“Our biggest selling point is our language. Everywhere we go, people are amazed at how clear our accent is,” says Peres Were, Managing Director of Cascade Global, adding: “They are finding that India is getting saturated and quality is not very good. They want to give Africa a try.”
‘Good Morning, This Is Kiambiroiro Speaking! How May I Assist You! Thank-You For Calling! Have A Nice Day!
While, one may expect to hear all that and more, however, technology is Kenya’s major and main hurdle. Despite, the clarity of the Kenyan accent, an irritating echo on the line is bad for business.
Since, call centre operators in east Africa’s biggest economy rely on an outdated satellite system, there are echoes on the line caused by latency i.e. the time gap created when calls travel 36,000-km through space and back. This simply, spoils the quality of the call.
And, it doesn’t help any when for that service, they have to shuck out a hefty $7,000 per megabyte of bandwidth each month, compared with the roughly $500 per megabyte Indian operators pay.
Eric Nesbitt, a call centre entrepreneur informs of the time, when he let prospective American clients know their calls would be routed through a satellite connection. Aware that the outmoded technology would lower quality of voice calls, leading to irritated customers, they no longer seemed interested in doing business with him.?
“Clients are not going to change their systems to handle a satellite link just for us. It’s like, ‘Why bother’? Who are you guys anyway?’ They have no interest,” Nesbitt, Operations Director of KenCall informs, adding: “When we have fibre and that takes that discussion off the table, then we will be equal to everyone in the world.”
India, usually the first stop for western firms looking to increase profits by outsourcing some of their business processes, earned $39.6-billion in the last financial year from call centres, back office operations and software development. Employing 1.5-million people, the Indian call centre sector contributes 5.2% to the nation’s gross domestic product.
Last year, the Philippines earned $3.26-billion and hopes to double that by 2010.
Attracting The Multinationals
Kenya’s ambitious plans of a $100-million undersea cable will allow it to connect Mombasa with Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
The East African Marine Systems (TEAMS), as it is known will help in bringing down bandwidth costs, somewhat similar levels to what India is paying. Meanwhile, the Kenyan government has secured a World Bank loan to subsidise bandwidth costs, till its own cable lands in Mombasa.
However, archaic technology is not the only hurdle the young Kenyan call centre industry faces, it also has to deal with: “Our main disadvantage is that we are at infancy and many companies out there do not know we are there,” Gilda Odera, Managing Director of Skyweb-Evans, another call centre, complains.
While, India’s large English-speaking workforce and wages that are well below western levels, has helped attract business, nonetheless, according to industry analysts it is fast becoming a far more expensive outsourcing destination. And, it is here, Kenyans hope their confidence and good English language skills can make a difference.
And, they just might, as Indian agents with clear accents are unwilling to take low salaries, which is why more and more workers with stronger rural accents are getting into the market.
Not only that Kenyans are banking on bad press generated over the Indian industry for clients to bring business their way. And if they are to be believed, lately, they have been receiving a lot of inquiries from multinationals looking for a new location.
“Ours is a young industry and fragmented but in a few years, there will be bigger players,” says Mugure Mugo, Managing Director of Preciss, a business process outsourcing firm.
Is this a wake-up call for India’s complacent BPO industry! Well, it most certainly seems so, as more and more competitors aspire for a share of the BPO pie, owners of Indian call centres will not only have to ensure their employees speak accentless English, but also do not expect pay packages that cut into a client’s profit margins! Not that it can’t be done, however, they certainly have their work cut out i.e. training rural India to speak with a polished, cut-glass accent!
Knowing the Indians, I am sure they are more than capable of retaining their BPO edge! Maybe, TCS, Wipro, Infosys et al will set up call centres in Kenya to offset rising salaries at home!
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