Employment Magnets
Kenya’s youth benefit from the many jobs created by Chinese companies
Richard Gowi can hardly hide his excitement. As the Legal Manager of Huawei Kenya, he is looking forward to his third trip to China, scheduled for April 2019. Much like his two previous trips there, during which he received professional training, this third visit will be of great importance to him.
It all began with a ceremony on December 4, 2018. As part of the celebrations to mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kenya, the Kenya-china Economic and Trade Association (KCETA) presented 55 Kenyan employees with awards acknowledging their outstanding work in Chinese companies based in Kenya.
In addition to the award, these employees were also given a fully-sponsored trip to China. Together, these 55 employees from 24 counties across Kenya represent 20 Chinese companies. Gowi, who has been working in Huawei Kenya for 12 years, was one of them.
“As we celebrate the local employees in these companies, we commend them for the dedication that they have shown over the years. As we focus on growing our relations, we want to continue providing an enabling environment that will see more local employees enjoy and thrive while working within KCETA member companies,” said Li Xuhang, Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Kenya at the ceremony.
According to Li, more than 400 Chinese companies in Kenya have created over 130,000 jobs, and 96 percent of the employees of KCETA members are locals as of December 4 last year.
“Chinese companies choose to be more localized, because Kenyan employees are diligent, ambitious and far-sighted [enough] to overcome cultural differences and [the] language barriers to make a difference,” he said.
According to KCETA, many Kenyans have been working in Chinese companies and institutions for close to 20 years. In addition, many Kenyans have been able to move up