Special Economic Zones’ major role in creating jobs

A silent revolution is reshaping the global economy, driven by talent, technology, and the relentless pursuit of competitive service delivery. As global enterprises diversify operations and seek new efficiency frontiers, Africa stands ready to reap the proceeds.

Young, educated, and digitally connected, the continent is positioned to power the next wave of global services and innovation. Yet, the continent’s greatest opportunity remains its greatest gap; the need for world-class business ecosystems that allow global firms to set up, operate and scale with confidence.

A United Nations paper published in October 2024 estimates that Africa's youth population, already the largest in the world, is projected to double to over 830 million by 2050. By the same year, the continent’s working-age population (15-64 years) will rise from 849 million in 2024 to 1.56 billion, accounting for 85 percent of the global workforce increase.

This will create an unmatched pool for technology, BPO, finance and professional services. One in four global workers will be African by 2035, shifting the centre of global talent.

Africa’s exports of services are growing faster than the global average, powered by digital infrastructure, trade integration, and expanding innovation hubs.

As a developing country and the sixth-largest economy on the continent, Kenya must be at the heart of this revolution. Nairobi must position itself as the gateway through which Africa’s services future is taking shape.

Without doubt, Kenya is where Africa’s service economy meets global scale. Strategically positioned, globally connected, and innovation-led, Kenya has become the continent’s hub for international services, investment, and talent.

With a vibrant private sector, policy stability, and world class digital infrastructure, Nairobi has evolved into a regional command centre for technology, finance, and professional services, where global companies establish operations, access skilled labour and serve international markets.

Over 400 regional and continental headquarters including the UN, Microsoft, Visa, IBM, and Teleperformance are located in Nairobi.

Services now account for over 50 percent of GDP and deliver Kenya’s only trade surplus, led by ICT, finance, and professional outsourcing.

The country is ranked top 3 innovation hub in Africa with more than 200 active tech and innovation centres and nearly 50 percent of East Africa’s tech Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).

The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Moi International Airport Mombasa link Africa, Europe, and Asia within a single workday. Kenya’s strategic time zone (GMT+3) enables seamless overlap with Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Strong governance and a progressive Special Economic Zones (SEZ) framework are big investor confidence boosters.

Read: Questions African leaders should ask at US-Africa business forum

The smart money right now is betting that Africa’s next trillion-dollar growth frontier is not in goods, but in its in services.

Global demand for service delivery is rising sharply, and Africa is the next major frontier.

Driven by rising labour costs, talent shortages and supply-chain realignments, global firms are rethinking where they operate.

Multinationals are diversifying operations to cost-competitive, talent-rich, and stable hubs for service delivery. Africa is emerging as the next major services frontier.

The continent is beginning to capture a larger share of global outsourcing, technology, and professional-services investment. Kenya leads Africa’s service-export transformation. As a regional hub for innovation and corporate headquarters, it combines skilled talent, digital infrastructure, and policy stability, attracting global firms seeking scalable service operations.

Yet, setup remains complex and uncertain. Across Africa, companies struggle to find compliant facilities and predictable processes, slowing expansion and limiting the continent’s ability to convert opportunity into output. Global companies face the same obstacles; setting up operations is slow, complex, and uncertain.

So far, service SEZs have proven to provide the best chance for eliminating that barrier. They do so by offering Grade A workspace, clear regulation, world-class infrastructure, and a streamlined one-stop setup process, giving investors the speed, certainty, and compliance needed to start and scale. They enable service-oriented firms to launch or scale operations quickly and confidently.

By providing real estate, infrastructure, fiscal incentives, and enterprise enablement, global investors get quick access to regulatory licensing, skilled talent, advanced technology, operational certainty, and business enablement.

Beyond the tax and infrastructure incentives, SEZs also deliver high-level engagement with policymakers and global anchors, ensuring barriers are removed and growth is accelerated.

Investors don’t just find offices, they find acceleration, clarity, and confidence to grow globally from Kenya.

The government must be commended for creating a magnetic pull of tax advantaged-SEZs with the performance of private business accelerators, reducing friction, lowering cost, and amplifying productivity.

If Kenya is to generate tens of thousands of high-quality jobs for our youth, then it must tap into the expanding African footprint in global service delivery.

The UN paper titled Unlocking the potential of Africa’s youth posits that to fully harness their vast potential, aligning Africa’s economic strategies with the realities of its growing youth population is crucial.

Service SEZs have the capacity to catalyse Kenya’s next generation of skilled professionals, linking education, enterprise, and export-ready expertise.

Formal, high-income jobs feed directly into PAYE and income tax, while multinational tenants strengthen Kenya’s corporate tax base and boost foreign exchange earnings through export-led services.

Kabaki Wamwea is the Chief Executive Officer at Private Wealth Capital