Kenya plans to expand opportunities in the Global Business Services (GBS) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector beyond the country's biggest towns, to ensure youth in smaller towns can also benefit.
This is according to Eng. John Tanui, Principal Secretary, State Department for ICT and the digital Economy, following a tour of French-founded Teleperformance, a global digital business services company.
Discussions centred on the scale of opportunity Kenya's growing GBS and BPO sector presents for young people and the economy, as part of continued engagement with global investors to expand digital employment and strengthen Kenya's position in the global services economy.
Tanui commended Teleperformance Kenya for its investment, partnership and confidence in local talent.
With operations spanning close to 100 countries and about 500,000 employees globally, the company operates in Nairobi and Mombasa and continues to expand its Kenyan operations.
"This investment reflects growing global confidence in Kenya's skilled, English-speaking workforce, digital infrastructure, favourable time zone and improving business environment," Tanui said.
"Our ambition is not only to grow BPO and GBS in Nairobi and Mombasa, but to extend these opportunities to other towns, including Nakuru, Nyeri, Kericho and Eldoret, creating more sustainable digital jobs, increasing service exports and building a globally competitive, job-rich digital economy."
GBS and BPO involve hiring outside teams to run corporate tasks. The government says Kenya's digital economy already supports more than 350,000 jobs, including over 40,000 in BPO and GBS.
Tanui said: "The strategic task now is to move up the value chain and position Kenya as a leading destination for high-value global services."
Teleperformance's entry into Kenya followed a meeting between President William Ruto and then-CEO and founder Daniel Julien at State House, Nairobi, in April 2025, as ITWeb Africa reported at the time, when the company committed to setting up its African headquarters in the country.
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