KENYA: Kenya could be next destination for outsourcers through social network

Record ID: 360991

  • Title: KENYA: Kenya could be next destination for outsourcers through social network
  • Date: 29th March 2008
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARTICIPANT STEVEN KANGETHE SAYING: "The problem is the business aspect of it. For us to be able to market ourselves, we'll need a bit more exposure because if it is talent, we already have that in our country, so it's more of looking at it in the business aspect as opposed to the technical aspect." VARIOUS OF ANTHONY ACOSTA CHATTING WITH FACEBOOK DEV
  • Embargoed: 13th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA347H8910V3AYQPTTDZ8D7P3TW
  • Story Text: Facebook 'Developer Garage' is held for first time in East Africa to teach students and programmers how to build applications on the Facebook Platform.
    Kenyan software developers and programmers gathered in Nairobi on Thursday (March 28) for a Facebook 'Developer Garage' which aims to teach students and professional software developers about building applications for the Facebook Platform. The 'Developer Garage' also serves as a forum where students and developers can see and participate in application demonstrations, seek technical support from experts and share ideas.
    Facebook, the popular social networking site, has more than 67 million users, with 60 percent of those living outside of the United States.
    The 'Developer Garage' being held in Nairobi, was hosted by Market for Change, an organisation which aims to create sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation by creating active markets for small and medium-sized business in Africa and other developing regions. The company is based in California's Silicon Valley.

    "We think that development is ultimately about forging connections between people and allowing trade to happen more readily between people in the West and the developed world and people in the less-developed world,"
    said Leila Churiath, the CEO and Founder of Market for Change, which is hosting the Nairobi event in collaboration with Facebook and the University of Nairobi.

    "We really think that Facebook is one of the ways to do that by building trust, or you know, by showcasing existing connections between people and letting them communicate easier and letting them transact easier, we think that that's sort of in line with our developed model," added Churiath.
    Nairobi is the first East Africa city to host an event like this, which many believe is an indication of the potential foreign companies and organisations see in Kenya's pool of software developers and programmers.

    "The problem is the business aspect of it. For us to be able to market ourselves, we'll need a bit more exposure because if it is talent, we already have that in our country, so it's more of looking at it in the business aspect as opposed to the technical aspect," said Steven Kangethe, who took part in the Facebook 'Developer Garage'.
    Facebook is a Silicon Valley-based company that was founded in 2004 as a social site for students at Harvard University which then spread quickly to other colleges and eventually into work places. Its popularity stems from how the site conveniently allows users to share details of their lives with selected friends online.
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