The State Department for Diaspora Affairs, Ministry of Foreign & Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya has officially entered into a partnership with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, aiming to localise job opportunities through BPO and IT outsourcing.
Facilitated by Qhala Trust, the collaboration will connect skilled workers with opportunities in Hamburg, Germany, through a city-to-city partnership, which includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The partnership pilots in Nakuru County with plans to scale.
The partnership will serve as a bridge, creating a “match made in heaven” between Germany’s need for skilled workers and Kenya’s pool of trained professionals. While Germany is experiencing significant job growth, the country’s immigration constraints have limited their ability to import labour. This collaboration enables Germany to tap into Kenya’s highly skilled workforce without the need for physical relocation.
Kenyan President Dr William Ruto, presided over the signing of the memorandum and outlined the government’s commitment to support the BPO sector in Kenya, to meet the needs of German and European clients.
“Kenya is continually becoming the silicon savanna where technology, innovation and creativity is central to our development. This agreement today will benefit from the relationship between German technology and Kenyan talent. It will give us an opportunity for a win-win collaboration and partnership. And therefore it is a coming together of two aspects of two great nations to give us an opportunity to leverage on technology to drive our manufacturing, job creation, investment and create expanded opportunities for both countries,” the President expressed.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Berlin by Kenya’s Principal Secretary, State Department for Diaspora Affairs, Roseline Njogu, Michaela Beck, Managing Director of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, Professor Karl-Heinz Paqué, Chairman of the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation Board and Qhala Trust CEO Dr Shikoh Gitau.
Qhala Trust CEO Dr Shikoh Gitau stated; “Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. This is the reality that has shaped the lives of many young Kenyans—highly skilled, educated, and capable, but lacking the platform to apply their talents where they are needed most. Today, I am ecstatic that we are taking a decisive step to change that. The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding between Kenya and Germany, with initial focus on Nakuru County and the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce marks the beginning of a new era, one where opportunity meets talent, no matter where it is found.”
“We are here today to open a new chapter of cooperation between Germany and Kenya. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s office in Nairobi, is also home to our Global Partnership Hub. One of the first topics that the hub addressed was the digital division of labour between the Global North and the Global South. Remote work or business process outsourcing, as the experts call it, is a classic win-win model,” stated Professor Paqué.
The project will be piloted in Nakuru as the first city in Kenya, with plans to expand the project to four other counties. Additionally, Qhala will set up an investor outreach hub within the County to attract and manage more investment and partnerships like this within Nakuru and additional counties across Kenya.
Qhala Trust is a nonprofit arm of Qhala that has been at the forefront of efforts to create digital jobs for youth in Kenya. Created in 2023, they exist to empower young people in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sustainable livelihoods through digital innovation.
As part of this collaborative effort, Lish AI Labs will play a pivotal role as a digital hub, providing AI-driven training and cloud-based job opportunities in Nakuru County.
