Kenya’s ICT sector was worth an estimated $5.48 billion in 2017, constituting 31.7% growth from 2016. The telecommunications segment makes up the vast majority of this at around $3.2 billion. Other important contributors are broadcasting, data center services, cloud, IT, and BPO.

Kenya’s combination of relatively stable governance, strategic location, and young and innovative population has made it an attractive destination for multinational companies. Several notable firms such as Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, HP, and SAP have offices in Nairobi, and some have based their entire African operations from these offices.

Why you should work with Kenyan IT companies

Digital service providers in the cloud and BPO markets are largely involved in the provision, rather than the development, of services, whilst Kenyan firms are more prevalent in the fintech and eCommerce markets. The physical technology required for the delivery of digital services is typically imported, and it is not clear that Kenya could produce these products more efficiently. 

A key strength in the digital services market is the acceptance of mobile services. Any consumer solution entering the market would have to be mobile-compatible. Mobile healthcare services are expected to grow particularly rapidly as the sophistication of these offerings increases.

What to pay attention to when working with Kenyan IT companies and web agencies

On the consumer side, it is vital that any proposed digital service offering be mobile-compatible due to the prevalence of mobile usage in Kenya. Furthermore, smartphone penetration in the region is steadily increasing, thus increasing the sophistication of viable digital service offerings. 

Given the acceptance of fintech by the Kenyan population, a possible route to entry in the consumer market is to acquire one of the many smaller fintech firms in the industry. This would resolve some of the primary barriers to entry, most specifically bureaucratic red tape and a lack of local knowledge. 

On the corporate side, the most effective route to entry is likely through partnerships with smaller local resellers. This model is already popular in the Kenyan market. A key differentiating feature here will be how well the service adapted to the Kenyan market.

How reliable are Kenyan-based IT companies?

Considered to be one of the biggest African IT hubs, Kenyan web agencies and IT companies compete only with Ethiopian ones in terms of reliability. As many foreign companies have already invested and thus developed the local IT infrastructure and industry overall, Kenyan IT companies find it easier than other neighboring countries to enter the global market and provide their services for accessible prices. 

How Kenyan IT industry relate to the neighboring countries?

Kenya is actively trying to establish itself as a key ICT hub in the East African region. The country appears to be making good progress in this regard, helped by having a strong connectivity infrastructure and a young, innovative population. Despite this, the country currently faces considerable political uncertainty, and issues surrounding the transparency of tenders remain a major barrier to growth.

Although Kenya’s score for the metric measuring the economic impact of ICT is not high in absolute terms, it ranks 54th in the world. This supports the conjecture that businesses, government, and consumers will be receptive to new technologies as ICT has already had a substantial impact on the Kenyan economy

Mobile app development is the process of creating mobile apps for popular mobile operating systems like Android and iOS. 

There are about 7 billion smartphones worldwide, meaning that more than 85% of the world’s population has a mobile device at their disposal to perform various tasks online or offline.

Having a mobile app, businesses can reach a wider audience and have more control over their marketing activities. The benefits are obvious:

• Increases your brand awareness
• Creates a new marketing channel
• Creates a new feedback channel
• Improves your customer service
• Builds customer loyalty
• Improves your sales flow

Choosing the right mobile app development company to work with is not an easy task. There are multiple aspects to consider:

• Location
• Price
• Team size
• Previous experience
• Turnover time
• Communication means

You should also define your project specifications and set up clear goals and objectives, in order to get relevant offers and collaborate successfully with the companies you choose.

There are more than 9,600 service providers on our platform which offer a wide variety of mobile development solutions. Explore their profiles and feel free to get in touch with them.

To ease the selection process, we’ve created a powerful filter which you can use to narrow down the results based on your requirements and shortlist the companies.

Alternatively, you can submit your project and our team will select and send you the best matching companies in about 1 hour. It’s free and there is no obligation to hire.