• Zoho’s growth in Kenya can be attributed to the popularity of its flagship products.
• The new office seeks to cater to the company’s growing customer base in the country.
Image: MELINDA KIRWA
Zoho, a software development company, has announced the opening of its new head office in Westlands, Nairobi.
In a bid to expand its presence in Kenya, the new office seeks to cater for the company’s growing customer base in the country.
The announcement was made during the Zoholics Kenya event, the company’s annual user conference.
The office which is currently undergoing renovations is expected to be ready for operations in April.
As Zoho’s first physical office in Kenya, it will also house a modern training centre for Zoho’s customers and partners.
Zoho Kenya country head Veerakumar Natarajan said that they are committed to investing in local talent to provide the best possible service to its customers.
This, he said, is also reflective of their strategy for business growth and expansion.
“We aim to be locally rooted while being globally connected. We are thrilled to open our office in Kenya and we look forward to working closely with the local businesses and empowering them digitally to drive growth and innovation,” Natarajan said.
Zoho MEA operations president Hyther Nizam said through the new office, customers and partners will receive training on the different products as well as capacity building on different tech topics.
The new office’s training centre equipped with a high-tech video conferencing facility can accommodate up to 40 attendees at a given time.
Nizam said that this will provide an exceptional environment for Zoho’s customers and partners in the country to engage, learn and have hands-on interactions with the company’s suite of 55+ business software solutions.
“I see great opportunity for the Kenyan market. As we expand, we want to provide a local experience for our audience here,” he said.
“Through our physical offices, we want to make a commitment that we are going to offer local pricing, office, support, TIMS support as well as integration implementors.”
In 2022, Zoho’s Middle East and Africa (MEA) market grew by 43 per cent as compared to 51 per cent in 2021 and 29 per cent in 2020.
Natarajan said that in five years, they have experienced 7x growth with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48 per cent.
In Africa, Kenya is the number two fastest growing market for Zoho behind Nigeria, with a CAGR of 43 per cent.
The market uptake has grown by six times in five years.
“Zoho’s growth in Kenya can be attributed to the popularity of its flagship products. These include Zoho One, CRM, Workplace, Desk as well as the VAT and TIMS-compliant applications; Zoho Books, Invoice and Inventory,” Natarajan said.
“These products have helped businesses of all sizes in Kenya to increase productivity and streamline operations.”
He added that the launch of the Zoho Africa Digital Enabler (ZADE) package has also been received well in the Kenya and Nigerian markets with numerous businesses expressing interest in the program.
ZADE is designed to aid small businesses in achieving digital transformation, at an affordable cost, by equipping them with the same tools employed by large enterprises to manage operations.
The success of ZADE has reinforced Zoho’s commitment to supporting small businesses in Kenya and throughout Africa.
Zoho has plans to introduce new initiatives that will enable more businesses to harness the potential of digital technologies.