Enterprising Kenyans with the mastery of foreign languages like French, Mandarin and German are cashing in on international events happening in the country with their interpreting skills, with some earning close to Sh30,000 a day.
This new entrepreneurship venture is opening up opportunities in the linguistic sector, offering employment to hundreds of youths while saving event organizers the burden of hiring interpreters from other countries.
Thirty-year old James Osewe operates Elite Translators, a startup company offering interpreting services in at least ten international languages.
He told The Star that after getting numerous bookings to offer those services, he decided to seek other Kenyans who were versed in various languages and taught them interpreting skills.
“We have since expanded to various countries in the continent including Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Rwanda and we are in the process of entering West Africa,” said Osewe.
There is a huge deficit of interpreters in French, German, Spanish and Chinese in the region.
This not only signals huge potential for my business but also challenges linguistic students in the region to think beyond mastering languages for academic purposes.
Osewe who employs five youth on permanent basis and freelancer depending on the workload said they get at least eight jobs on a good day across their markets.
Osewe who is currently pursuing a Masters degree in linguistics at the University of Nairobi is optimistic that his business will expand to reach the international market.
He explained that the world is now a global village thanks to robust social-economic interactions hence interpreting services are in high demand.
Andrew Majaliwa and his wife Janet Mugasia started Talk Plan Limited in 2010. Initially, the two who have mastered Mandarin targeted Chinese businesses that were flocking into the region but have since expanded coverage to Portuguese, French, Arab and German.
“China’s interest in Africa at the beginning of the century was an eye-opener. My wife and I were still linguistic students when we first landed our solo gigs. We rode on our diverse networks to net customers, mostly Chinese state officials who were in talks with the Mwai Kibaki administration on various infrastructure projects,’’ Majaliwa said.
The couple was overwhelmed when most of their initial clients referred them to their friends in China.
“This business has seen us brush shoulders with who is who in this country. We played a major role in negotiations of various infrastructure projects in the country, including the Thika Super Highway.’’
Talk Plan Limited now has close to 15 employees, charging clients an average of Sh45,000 per event.
He said that Kenya hosts several multi-international offices in various sectors including the United Nations offices, hotels, regional headquarters for various service and manufacturing companies and educational centres hence plenty of opportunities in the linguistic sector.
Dan Marete, an event organizer at World Links Entertainment regretted that youths in the country are doing less to capitalize on opportunities brought about by international conventions held in the country.
He told the Star that his company is sometimes forced to source interpreters from French-speaking countries in Africa like Senegal and Cameroon whenever they host international activities in Nairobi.
