Summary
- In 2023, Zoho experienced a remarkable 41% growth in Kenya, positioning the country as one of the fastest-growing markets in Africa.
- The company attributes this growth to the localization of its services and competitive pricing, making it a go-to solution for businesses seeking affordable enterprise software.
- To meet the growing demand, Zoho increased its employee count by 33% and expanded its partner network by 212%, relying on partners to extend its presence across the country.
Appetite for enterprise apps in kenya propelled Zoho’s growth in Kenya last year. The company reports that in 2023, it grew by 41% in kenya. This makes Kenya one of the fastest growing markets in Africa. Zoho attributes this growth to localization of its services and competitive pricing. The company shared through its Country Head, Veerakumar Natarajan, today at the Zoholics Kenya conference in Nairobi.
Zoho is renowned for its software and business tools, specifically the office suites that include word processing, spreadsheets, CRM, invoicing and other applications.
Zoho opened a new office in Kenya last year but had been operational in the country even before that. With more and more businesses looking for affordable enterprise software, Zoho has positioned itself as the go to solution.
“Growing with local communities is as important for us as delivering value for our customers through our solutions. We are also investing in localizing our products to ensure businesses here can easily leverage our solutions while staying compliant with local and global laws”, said Veerakumar.
Localization of Products
Zoho also announced the integration with M-Pesa for its finance suite of apps including Zoho Book. Zoho invoice also recently integrated with M-Pesa to make it easier for businesses to simplify their payment processes. Such integrations improve the overall payment collections for businesses even for those with no technical expertise.
To meet the growing demand, Zoho increased its employee count by 33% and its partner network by 212%. The company relies on its partners to expand its presence across the country. Growth in Kenya is driven by Zoho One, its unified product of over 55 products. This is followed closely by Zoho Workplace (an enterprise collaboration platform), Zoho CRM Plus (customer experience platform) and Zoho Books (a TIMS-compliant accounting software).
“Kenya’s growing digital economy and the resulting uptick in cloud adoption among businesses have largely contributed to Zoho’s growth in the country. Our customers particularly value the localization in our products, such as robust integrations with regional vendors for e-signing, online payment and other business operations and ability to buy Zoho apps in kenya shillings,” said Premanand Velumani, Regional Manager, Middle East and AAfrica, Zoho.
Zoho Sign Partnership with E-CSP
Zoho Sign has also announced its partnership with E-CSP TendaWorld, licensed by the Communication Authority of Kenya, to offer legally valid digital signatures. This makes it easier for Kenyan businesses to execute digital signatures for contracts and agreements, compliant with both Kenyan and global laws. Zoho Sign can be integrated with over 100 third-party apps including Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace. Zoho Sign also offers blockchain timestamping, generative AI capabilities and controls for life-sciences.
At the Zoholics conference, the company also announced a partnership with J-Hub Africa to support individual startups associated with the hub. It will provide the startups with Zoho Wallet Credits up to Ksh 100,000 that they can use to purchase any Zoho products.
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