Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign & Diaspora Affairs has established a partnership with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce to localize job opportunities through business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT outsourcing. The partnership, facilitated by Qhala Trust, aims to link Kenyan professionals with job opportunities in Hamburg, Germany, via a city-to-city collaboration. This initiative is set to start with a pilot in Nakuru County, with plans for future expansion.
The agreement will act as a bridge, addressing Germany’s demand for skilled workers by tapping into Kenya’s pool of trained professionals. Despite Germany’s job market growth, strict immigration policies have limited the country’s ability to import labor. This partnership provides Germany access to Kenya’s skilled workforce without requiring physical relocation.
Kenya’s President Dr. William Ruto oversaw the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU), reaffirming the government’s commitment to supporting the BPO sector to meet the needs of German and other 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 MoU was signed in Berlin by Roseline Njogu, Kenya’s Principal Secretary of the State Department for Diaspora Affairs, 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.
Dr. Gitau emphasized that while talent is equally distributed, 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.”Gitau Said.
“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 labor 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, which will initially focus on Nakuru County, will later expand to four additional counties. Qhala will also establish an investor outreach hub in Nakuru to attract more investment and partnerships across Kenya.
Qhala Trust, the nonprofit arm of Qhala, has been actively involved in creating digital job opportunities for Kenyan youth. Established in 2023, its mission is to empower young people across Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sustainable livelihoods through digital innovation.
As part of this initiative, Lish AI Labs will serve as a digital hub in Nakuru County, providing AI-driven training and cloud-based job opportunities for local talent.