According to Business Daily Africa, new report carried out by Chinese companies in Kenya showed that all Chinese companies operating in Kenya created more than 50,000 jobs in 2018 alone.
The report which was released on Tuesday the 27th of July 2019, stated that there are 106 Chinese companies which currently run operations within Kenya, added that almost 95 percent of their workforce is Kenyan.
It is important to note however, that the report did not clarify on whether the workers were casual labourers or actual contract workers.
Chinese companies, both those owned privately and State-owned by the Chinese government, have continued to make inroads into the continent of Africa, in search of investment opportunities.
The report made it known that the direct foreign investment into the continent between 2005 and 2016, standing at 6.9 trillion Kenyan Shillings ($66.4 billion).
The study discovered that an association of Chinese multinationals under the Kenya-China Economic and Trade Association (KCETA) had organized a career fair which saw more than 50 companies offer employment opportunities to at least 1,000 Kenyans.
The career fair, brought together firms which include smartphone giant; Tecno, Huawei Technologies, Sinohydro Corporation, ZTE Kenya Limited, Baus Optical, Erdemann property Ltd and major digital pay TV provider StarTimes.
Other firms which took part in the career fair are the China Road and Bridge Corporation, which is the contractor of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), as well as the real estate firm Avic International which is currently putting up a 40 billion Kenyan Shillings 47 floor mixed-use complex in Nairobi’s Westlands.
While most of the jobs created by Chinese firms are in the manufacturing and service sectors, those sectors account for 62 percent of the total number of the Chinese companies in Kenya.
The supplies for the Chinese firms are however being outsourced directly from China, which means that the local companies in Kenya will sadly be missing out on the opportunity to gain from the big ticket contracts.
