Varsities targeted for business outsourcing

The government will set up two training institutions to accommodate 5000 people per year to rescue the outsourcing industry that has failed to take off.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of East Africa Outsourcing (EAO) Summit 2012 on Tuesday, ICT Board chief executive Paul Kukubo said the Information ministry has had to adjust its expectations after a learning experience.

“Most of the players who dropped off had misunderstood the sector and were dependent on subsidies. We are putting up a centre of excellence to train 5000 people every year in collaboration with the University of Nairobi and Strathmore University,” Mr Kukubo said.

The ICT Board reckons that lack of the necessary skills and competent workforce to handle specialised services has been the biggest challenge pulling down the sector.

Large companies turn to outsourcing firms to handle non-essential day-to-day business tasks such as customer care or document management, allowing them to save costs and concentrate on core business.

“People want to improve their services through outsourcing and this means that unless our centres offer superior services, then we miss such opportunities given that our perception used to be putting low cost labour in a room and applying for the services,” he said.

The board has partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to introduce a software certification programme.