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

Web development is about creating, building, and maintaining websites or web applications using programming languages and web development frameworks. The main reason why web development services are popular is the need for businesses to establish their presence on the web. 

Building a website or a web application involves creating the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX), including the layout, colors, fonts, and images. It also consists in optimizing these elements for mobile and desktop, making the interface accessible to users, and facilitate the interaction between the user and the application. On the back-end, it involves scripting, server configuration, and database management. At the same time, it includes testing, maintenance, and ensuring overall functionality.

According to recent studies, over 4.7 billion people worldwide have access to the Internet. So, it’s obvious that having a well-designed and developed website is essential for any business that wants to succeed online.

On top of that, the number of mobile internet users is constantly growing, with approximately 92% of internet users accessing the web through their smartphones which proves the importance of responsive and optimized websites on mobile devices.

In a nutshell, a web developer, which is providing development services is responsible for:

• Establish a company's online presence via a web application
• Improve and optimize the performance of the website or web app
• Update and maintain the well-functioning of the website or web apps

In addition, depending on the terms of a contract between a company and a web developer, the second can assist with: 

• Backup the data of the website
• Operate changes to the UI
• Migrate the website to another domain or platform

Usually, a web developer should have both soft and hard skills. The soft skills are related to communication and reporting, while the hard skills help in the development process.  

If you choose to work with a web development company, make sure to keep in mind the following criteria in the selection process:

• The company should have experience in developing websites or web applications that are similar to yours.
• A solid portfolio that proves examples of their work.
• Communication abilities enough to pass through cultural, linguistic, and time-zone barriers.
• Transparency and proven track record

Carefully evaluating these factors, you can choose a Web Development company that best aligns with your needs. There are more than 18699 companies on the TechBehemoths platform that offer a wide variety of web development services.

 Explore their detailed profiles, and client reviews, and feel free to get in touch with them. We’ve created also a powerful filter that 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.

We also invite you to read an insightful survey conducted by TechBehemoths in order to identify How IT Companies Use Web Development Technologies - 2022 survey.