The business process outsourcing industry, valued at over $300 million worldwide, has traditionally been dominated by countries such as India, which offer lower labor costs than the Western market, in addition to a vibrant digital ecosystem.
BPOs hire external service providers to handle specific business functions, allowing businesses to focus on their core competency. The number of African countries is currently increasingly trying to attract high-tech companies offering IT services such as software development to clients in the developed market.
Kenya's BPO Association claims the country boasts about 2 million digital workers. Kenya's technology envoy, Ambassador Philip Tigo, spoke to African businesses at the Gitex Tech Conference in Berlin, claiming that the country's digital connections are in a strong position to serve as a high-tech hub that includes BPO destinations.
“We have good infrastructure,” he says. “It has six fiber cables, but with a seventh cable coming up, there's a great high-speed internet in terms of connectivity and infrastructure.”
The ambassador also highlights the country's geographical location in time zones similar to Europe and the Middle East, the flux of English, and the rich green energy of data centers as an important strength.
“We are one of the countries working on AI factories as we see the next evolution of business that is AI,” he says.
“For example, we are working with Nvidia and Cassava Technologies to deploy the first-ever AI factory in a region that serves the region.”
“There's also democracy,” adds Thigo. “That's why we won't close the internet.”
The Kenya High Court last week issued a ruling that prevented the government and internet service providers from blocking internet access or disrupting it. The court remains in effect until the court resolves cases filed by several NGOs related to the case if internet services were not available during the outbreak of civil unrest last year.
Cost Benefits
Another country that has emerged as an important BPO player is Ghana. According to consulting firm BPO Search, BPO has donated more than $200 million to the West African economy, with over 6,000 people employed in the sector.
Matthew Darkwa, operations director at Ghana's IT services company Amalitech, says Ghana has the “all resources” needed to serve as a BPO destination. For European companies, he tells us, the outsourcing feature to Ghana could be a “cost-effective” solution.
“The most important thing right now is cost. Every company has to expand its digital components,” he says, meaning that Europe's aging population will be forced to search overseas for access to talent.
Darkwa also emphasizes that Ghana's digital infrastructure provides a platform for the BPO industry to succeed.
“We've been running since 2019 and the internet has never been an issue,” he says.
Like Kenya, Ghana offers multiple international fibrotic cables. Most recently, in the second half of 2023, it was connected to Meta's 2Africa cables connecting Africa to Europe, the Middle East and India. Increased availability of satellite internet provided by Starlink and others can also help plug in gaps.
With 150,000 graduates entering the labor market each year, Dirkwa says Ghana has a well-positioned workforce to compete in the BPO market.
“We are growing. We are growing. The beauty of what we do is that we are not reinventing the wheel… we are the future.”
