This comes in the wake of a rise in online work in the country despite lack of proper regulations on the digital work space.
ICT and Digital Economy principal secretary John Tanui said many of the country’s laws do not recognise remote work, and are not clear on Business Process Outsourcing.
This is where a job is done by the third party.
“We as a country are looking at recognising this emerging sector, there is quite a number of laws that we are looking at, like on health and safety we are looking at what happens when you’re injured and you’re working at home and whose responsible,” Tanui said.
The PS noted that there are a number of recommendations currently under discussions by the various sectors with the leadership of attorney general to see how to fully recognise the digital workspace.
The proposed changes come at a time that international firms are angling themselves to tap onto the growing outsourcing market in Kenya.
The latest is French office services and call centre company Teleperformance, that on Thursday moved to Two Rivers International Finance and Innovation Centre (TRIFIC).
This will allow it to expand the workforce, as part of a broader strategy to enhance its presence in the region.
The company has been operating a business process outsourcing (BPO) facility in Nairobi at the Riverside Drive, where it employs 1,400 staff.
The firm revealed plans to ride on the Kenyan governments labour outsourcing program in its latest investments in the Kenyan Market.
The new entity will create between 4,000 and 5,000 new jobs in the region, bolstering Kenya’s growing reputation as a prime destination for global outsourcing.
Teleperformance chief executive of the UK, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa.
CEO, Gary Slade, said that with a strong emphasis on utilising Kenya’s highly skilled workforce, the firm aims to tap into the country’s competitive advantage in linguistics, technological innovation and cost-effective business solutions.
“This operation will bring significant employment opportunities to the region and with the capacity to accommodate up to 5,000 employees, we are excited about the future potential of this hub,” Slade said.
In recent years, the growth of the BPO sector in the country has been nothing short of encouraging.
The global BPO market is currently valued at more than $262 billion (Sh33.9 trillion) according to Statista, with African countries continuing to gain market share.
Recognising the immense potential of this growing industry, Kenya identified BPO as a priority sector within Vision 2030’s economic pillar, which envisions creating more than 200,000 jobs and contributing a substantial 10 per cent to the nation’s GDP, aiming to capitalise on the massive influx of foreign direct investments anticipated in the BPO sector.
The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in Africa–currently employing 1.2 million full-time equivalent posts across more than 400 contact centres handling international outsourcing contracts–is set for exponential growth.
A recent report by CCI Global, a prominent player in African outsourcing, projects that the continent’s BPO workforce will more than double by 2030.
This surge is fuelled by the growing demand from global companies seeking outsourced customer service.
The report, conducted in collaboration with research firm–Everest Group, forecasts the creation of up to 1.5 million new BPO jobs in Africa over the next six years.
South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt are poised to reap significant benefits, while emerging hubs such as Ghana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda are also positioned for substantial growth.
Centum Investment CEO James
Mworia, who heads TRIFIC SEZ,
said the development has placed
Kenya as a growing potential as an
investment destination and an ideal hub for international business
outsourcing.
