NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm Sama has announced plans to hire and train 2,000 youth and women to work on computer vision projects for leading Fortune 500 companies.
The new employees will be trained in computer vision and data labeling services, a field in high demand by AI developers and machine learning (ML) engineers globally.
They will work on various projects, including labeling images and videos for machine learning algorithms as part of upstream AI data building.
The initiative is part of Sama’s mission to expand opportunities for the underserved through the digital economy in Kenya and Uganda.
“Through this initiative, we are not only creating employment opportunities for Kenyan youths but also ensuring that Kenya plays a significant role in shaping the future of AI development,” Sama Vice President Global Service Delivery Annepeace Alwala said.
“Together, we’re fostering innovation, creating opportunities, and building a brighter future where Kenyan talent fuels the global AI revolution,” Alwala added.
The first 600 participants in Nairobi have already been hired and are currently undergoing training.
The remaining 1,500 participants will be employed in the coming weeks.
The new cohort will join Sama’s dynamic team of over 3,000 staff in Nairobi to work on computer vision and AI projects for some leading global companies.
“The government is keen to turn Kenya into a digital economy by creating a conducive operating environment for the private sector,” State Department of ICT and the Digital Economy Principal Secretary John Kipchumba Tanui said.
“By employing 2,000 Kenyan youths, they are paving the way for a brighter future where talent meets technology, creating opportunities for our nation’s brightest minds.”
Sama’s efforts align with the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BeTA) on the Digital Economy Transformation.
According to recent research by the McKinsey Global Institute on generative AI and productivity, the AI value chain can generate value equivalent to $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in global corporate profits annually.
To date, Sama has helped over 65,000 people in the tech industry.
