A great way to begin the discussions so far is from Victor who quoted a wise man who once said "if you stop to kick at every dog that barks at you, you couldn't get very far". He said that rather than get discouraged and try to win over the nay-sayers, the BPO industry should view this as a challenge to prove them wrong while laughing all the way to the bank, a la Vodaphone/SafariCom. Victor, how apt. I take this opportunity to thank all the contributors so far on this theme include Dr. Ndemo, Alice, Victor, Sam, Wainana and Eric.

 

Alice has suggested that we should consider the just landed TEAMs cable as one of our strengths and niche areas. Meanwhile, Dr Ndemo is concerned that our greatness weakness is negativity. We Kenyans rarely see the good in anything. He noted that we see competitors as enemies instead of embracing them and working for the country.  And we will not go far unless we rid of ourselves of this and we should be careful as foreigners also capitalize on these differences. How apt again! Eric agrees with him that ATTITUDES are our KILLER APP.

 

Wainaina adds that the key lies in our BPO branding which should be part of a national branding effort. He challenged our media to stop feeding the stereotypes like the 'mungiki' image
of Kenya; or the notion that we are helplessly corrupt. He suggests that we must communicate a message like PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN brand that has diverted many opportunities their way inspite of their crime levels. Again how apt! And dare I add that we should strive to wash our dirty linen at home and not in public….

 

Sam Aguyo, your knowledge of the Indians is certainly useful as there are some things a research study may not glean well hence the difficulty with clearly identifying India’s niche area. Thanks for the contribution on the niche areas for Kenya including accountants, engineers etc, though I believe ‘researchers’ is too general and needs to be qualified if we really want to identify a niche. He notes auditing firms and research firms have been outsourcing for a long time. I encourage you to read his whole input, insightful indeed.

 

So as we wind up this Sunday and after a great week, with a favourable budget for the ICT industry, landing of the TEAMs cable…I would like to encourage you all to continue the discussions on this theme tomorrow Monday 15^th June especially fleshing out the niche areas for Kenya amidst our strengths and weaknesses.

 

If you do not see me online tomorrow for a little while (like the way I disappeared on Saturday), I am very much with you just blame it on my Safcom Bamba…it has a tendency to serve me well sometimes but equally to frustrate me when it matters most.

 

Nyaki