Kenya's robot waiters cause a stir

At the Robot Cafe in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, the servers with their built-in trays are often the star. The restaurant, on the ground floor of a busy mall in the residential neighborhood of Kileleshwa, is likely the first in East Africa to have three robots gliding around alongside human waiters.

Mohammed Abbas, the owner of the Robot Cafe, experienced robot service in Asian and European countries and decided to bring them to Kenya. The technology is likely to play an increasingly important role in some industries in the not-too-distant future.

Nairobi has a vibrant tech industry. The metropolis of more than 4 million people has positioned itself as a technology center in the East African region, and has become known as Silicone Savanna, in reference to the US original.

"It was very expensive to import the robots," said Abbas. But he added that his investment has paid off, with the restaurant "often busy with curious customers." The robots are controlled by the waiters via an iPad app. That means human waiters remain important for the cafe's operation — for now.

Hospitality expert Edith Ojwang believes there's room for robots and humans to coexist in the industry. "The hospitality industry is very diverse. We have clients who will prefer robotic service and full automation, while we also have clients who will prefer human service, the human touch and warmth that comes with human service," she said.

The three robots, called Claire, R24 and Nadia, remain quite limited in what they can do. For the rest, they are largely dependent on their human colleagues. Unlike them, the robot team is still all female — at least, if you want to interpret their body shape that way.