Kenya closing labour law gaps to drive jobs in digital era
Authorities in Kenya have agreed to collaborate with industry stakeholders to address gaps in the country’s labour laws that are hindering job creation in the growing digital economy.
During a site visit to Sama, a firm providing data annotation solutions that power the AI models of the future, the Principal Secretary State Department for Industrialization Dr. Juma Mukhawana, assured a closer working relationship with Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry stakeholders.
The governmenment aims at addressing gaps in the labour laws and to prime the rapidly evolving digital economy to create jobs for the youth, in line with the Kenya Kwanza administration Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Dr. Mukhawana said the Government acknowledges that current labour laws were formulated in 2007, a time when the digital economy was in formative stages.
“The Government acknowledges the need to identify and address challenges that currently inhibit the creation of jobs within the digital sector,” Dr Mukhawana said.
The digital economy is emerging as a transformative force in Kenya and across the world due to a pool of talent and good infrastructure. Kenya continues to attract global tech companies, including Sama; however, challenges to some labour laws hold the industry from its optimal potential.
The global BPO market is estimated to be valued at over $262 billion, with African countries continuing to emerge as the next BPO growth frontiers. The BPO sector is crucial in developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that power the automotive, retail, agricultural and food technology sectors.
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During the tour, Sama Director of Global Service Delivery Lilian Kiplang’at said that as Kenya forges ahead into the digital era, this partnership between the Government and industry stakeholders.
“The digital economy is a catalyst for job creation and economic advancement in Kenya. At Sama, with the right operating environment, we have the potential to create thousands of jobs by 2024,” Kiplang’at said.
Sama has been in Kenya for the last 15 years, providing value chain AI solutions for self-driving cars, virtual reality gaming consoles, fashion segmentation and agricultural solutions for crop disease protection.
Recently, Sama unveiled Platform 2.0, a computer vision platform to reduce the risk of machine learning (ML) algorithm failures. The completely redesigned, scalable platform, consisting of SamaIQ, SamaAssure and SamaHub, offers greater transparency for clients to minimize rework and allows Sama to deliver annotated data and insights three times faster.
