Call centre services set up earns Kenya a place in top 50

Kenya is the latest entrant in the top 50 countries recognised for call centre services driven by reliable Internet connection and a 7,000-strong labour force.

Global Services Location Index (GSLI) placed the country at position 39, with Tunisia at 38, Senegal (45) and South Africa (48).

The report said Kenya, a first time entrant in the ranking, had shown remarkable progress in Information, Communication and Technology development via establishment of reliable optic fibre cables to businesses within its cities as well as sponsored several innovation hubs where software applications are being invented.

It said Kenya could do well by training more personnel to drive innovations that could be relied upon to solve various aspects of the day-to-day business activities thereby helping multinational companies reduce costs of employing staff.

Kenya was noted for its financial attractiveness (availability of infrastructure), skilled labour and a conducive business climate.

The report that looked at Business Processing as a Service (BPaaS) noted that ongoing rollout of the fibre optic cable across the country, would see new call centres started at remote locations that will become new sources of income and linkages between poor communities and the outside world.

The survey by A.T. Kearney looks at low wage countries with the best mix of skills, scale and IT and voice infrastructure to deliver a service at the lowest cost for multinationals that want to grow their business via downsizing-cum-expansion model.

The BPaaS model also seeks to create a win-win approach to corporate responsibility where multinationals outsource back office services to call centres located in low wage countries.

India and China lead the rankings due to their highly developed infrastructural facilities across their countries where skilled workers continue to provide innovations as well as operate call centres.