Africa is often painted with a broad brush – with many preferring to see “third world countries” as opposed to “developing markets.” It’s time to ditch that outdated mindset. Unfortunately, a ‘good enough for Africa’ mentality often perpetuates these perceptions, when the reality is that with the right approach, guidance, and engagement, Africa does compete with the best in the world!
Eneo@Tatu Central, the largest and most advanced business process outsourcing (BPO) facility in Kenya, proves this.
Eneo@Tatu Central comprises a combined gross lettable area (“GLA”) of approximately 26,000 sqm, interconnected by a retail offering. Moreover, it anchors the business district of Tatu City, a 5,000-acre mixed-use city with Special Economic Status currently being developed about 20 km north of Nairobi’s central business district.
Hodari Africa was initially appointed as the project manager but following ongoing concerns over a ‘good enough for Africa’ approach to site safety, quality, and turn-around, led to the developer asking us to step in as construction manager too. We’re also doing the tenant fit-out of both towers in the development.
There’s an old saying that goes “be careful what you ask for,” and Eneo@Tatu Central was certainly a steep learning curve for our team!
Firstly, developing a BPO facility is much more technical than an ordinary commercial office high-rise. Whilst ordinary offices typically have a density of around 15 sqm per person, BPO staff is much more consolidated, at 2.9 sqm per person. This additional density means extra weight, which impacts on core strength requirements and support columns, for instance, as well as additional emergency exit routes.
It also means a much larger emphasis on staff recreational and pause areas, that had to be incorporated into the development, such as a rooftop garden, and a plaza.
BPO facilities also operate around the clock, requiring 24/7 connectivity and power backup to ensure that business continuity without interruptions.
As with all their assets, GREA, the developer and owner of Eneo@Tatu Central, placed significant emphasis on futureproofing the building, incorporating several green features such as the optimisation of natural light and airflow, low wastage water fixtures and green plazas. Contingencies were also incorporated into the design to allow for the cost-effective retrofitting of additional sustainability features, such as solar panels at a later stage.
Most important was the construction of the technology stack. A BPO lives and dies by its IT infrastructure, requiring a minimum of 99.98% uptime. That’s on par with data centre requirements!
To test our resolve further, the tenant wanted to move staff into the facility several months before the handover of the completed building! This meant that we had to develop a fully functional BPO centre, complete with connectivity, power and water as well as safe access for personnel, whilst completing construction. I can write a book on the complex planning that went into building around a call center that operates 24 hours a day.
Because Eneo@Tatu Central is located in a Special Economic Zone, there are several import duty and VAT benefits, however, being the first BPO development, it presented a host of challenges to understand how the revenue authority’s processes work and how clearances are obtained. Being the first also meant that not all services were completed in the node, which posed significant challenges and complex temporary workaround measures.
Eneo@Tatu Central was delivered in 18 months, much sooner than the proposed 26-month development programme envisaged during the tender stage for a building of this scale and complexity. It was also delivered 8% under budget for the developer. The build quality and finishes put it on par with any other development globally – which many visitors to the development attest to.
On a personal note, this is Hodari Africa’s first large-scale development outside of South Africa under my leadership, and I am immensely proud of our team who have pulled this off.
Our success depended on so much more than resources. It required extraordinary cohesion in the vision and a drive towards excellence by everyone involved in the project – from the ultimate client to the suppliers, contractors, and journeymen.
I was privileged to have been able to hand-pick some of the best people in the industry to deliver on this project. People who were far greater experts in their respective fields than me. Importantly, we trusted each other implicitly to deliver according to the standards we set ourselves, no matter how hard things got.
We got it right by collaborating and communicating with all stakeholders. I spoke at least five times each day with various senior incumbents at the developer, my colleagues, and the tenant, CCI Global, where we openly discussed challenges, potential delays, and possible interventions. Everyone knew where we stood every minute of the project, which meant expectations were managed throughout.
At the same time, there was zero tolerance for Health and Safety infringements, and we didn’t hesitate to close the site to address serious concerns. I’m exceptionally proud of the team and all contractors who maintained a professional site. This had a direct impact on staff morale and work quality, which was further supported through regular toolbox talks on health and safety.
As a woman, it was encouraging to note that every professional consulting team or contractor we engaged with, had female representatives as part of the team. Times are certainly changing for young women considering a career in the built environment.
As the construction and project manager for Eneo@Tatu Central we learned a lot. I believe we also taught a lot. For me, the standout fact is that Africa can develop world-class infrastructure to the benefit of current and future generations – provided that the mindset of “good enough for Africa” is replaced by a non-negotiable approach to quality, performance, safety, collaboration and communication.
Key takeaways to deliver on a large-scale project:
- Hire experts in their field who know more than you
- Trust is non-negotiable, as is the ability to hold each other to account
- Blame games don’t work, especially in high-stress environments – therefore open and honest communication is key
- A pragmatic approach to finding workarounds and solutions by all parties involved is a prerequisite for success
- Don’t be afraid to share bad news with the client early on – but have a back-up solution ready
- Respect, inclusion and recognition go a long way to align all parties to your goals
- Compromise on how you reach a solution, but never on quality or safety
- You should be prepared to walk the extra mile with suppliers – several times. But the benefit is building relationships and trust that will far outlast your project
- Be prepared to put in the hours like you’ve never done before
- Never stop learning, and pay it forward
Eneo@Tatu Central (Photo credit: Lar Photography)
The Hodari all-star team who drove the successful delivery of Eneo@Tatu Central (Photo credit: Lar Photography)
– Mikayla Benkenstein, CEO at Hodari Africa
