Kenya is set to experience a significant economic boost as Sama, a leader in data annotation solutions, plans to enhance its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) investments in the country. Sama recently engaged with the national government players, including the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry and the BPO Association of Kenya, confirming its commitment to using Kenya as a global delivery site for machine learning (ML) models.
Sama’s Vice President of Global Delivery, Annepeace Alwala, highlighted Kenya’s quality talent and Sama’s key role in the data annotation market, providing computer vision data labeling services for more than 25% of Fortune 50 companies. The local BPO Industry has been growing steadily, with estimates from the BPO Association of Kenya predicting the creation of over one million jobs and generating more than $400 million USD in revenue. These developments position the industry as an important economic player with global solutions provision capacity.
Kenya’s government policies and investment in infrastructure have attracted international companies looking to establish operations in Africa. The country’s strong labor force, competitive operational costs, and favorable business environment contribute to job creation, economic growth, and enhanced global competitiveness.
Since its establishment in Kenya in 2011, Sama has grown its labor force to over 3,000 employees, primarily from Kenya but with representation from over 20 nationalities across Africa. The company focuses on annotating data for artificial intelligence algorithms, providing computer vision solutions that power AI and machine learning models.
Sama offers a range of BPO services in Kenya, including data validation, data curation, image and video annotation, content moderation, customer service support, data entry, software development, and 3D Point Cloud annotation for industries such as autonomous transportation, MedTech, agriculture, and retail solutions.
Sama’s Chief Executive Officer, Wendy Gonzalez, expressed excitement about Kenya’s potential to become a major player in the global BPO market. Through their purposeful impact hiring process, Sama connects individuals from low-income backgrounds, providing fair-paying entry-level jobs for those who may have previously lived in extreme poverty or lacked educational opportunities beyond secondary school.
Over 25% of Fortune 50 companies, including Google, NVIDIA, General Motors, Walmart, Ford, Microsoft, eBay, and Glassdoor, trust Sama to deliver industry-leading machine learning models.
Kenya’s skilled workforce, multilingual capabilities, and cultural compatibility contribute to its competitive advantage in the global outsourcing landscape. Sama plans to work with the government and other stakeholders to help make Kenya an international BPO destination as the sector continues to grow.
Over the past decade, Kenya’s BPO industry has attracted numerous global businesses, creating employment opportunities and driving economic growth.
In 2020, Sama became the first AI data labeling company to receive B Corp Certification, committing to create a positive impact for employees, communities, customers, and the planet. The company’s training and employment program were validated by an MIT-led Randomized Controlled Trial.
By investing in Kenya, Sama is poised to contribute to the country’s economic development and establish it as a hub for machine learning and data annotation services.
