So the Fortune 500s are slowly but surely edging out of India, the Philippines, Mexico, East Europe and all those roaring tiger economies of the 90s and the early 2000s. Offshore outsourcing to India, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines has already become the 90s thing to do.
Big businesses are looking up the stats. Africa’s incredibly young median age is watering the mouths of multinational corporations. At 19.5 median age, Africa makes the old world (Western Europe and North America) look like ancient antics of the bygone era. Don’t let the aggregated digital literacy and penetration percentages fool you. Africa’s youth is tech-savvy. Recently the CEO of Ethio-Telecom lamented that the abundantly made available telecom infrastructure is not exploited by the public which is an irony that is afflicting most developing countries.
I beg to differ. In Ethiopia alone every year 200,000 fresh STEM graduates join the digital work force. Add to that the self-taught and apprenticed army of youth employed by the gig economy and you wouldn’t regret the ‘idle’ infrastructure. By the way two thumps up Ms Frehiwot but I don’t think you have reason to worry; you just keep up doing the great job. Here is the deal clincher -increasingly the New Flower (አዲስ አበባ) is looking like the New Bangalore. Seasoned and highly rated global offshore outsourcing companies are recommending Addis Ababa as the Region’s outsourcing hub. Some have actually moved in. Guess what? Their services are in high demand and the government is taking good note of it. It cannot help it; hard currency is talking laud around the petit if cozy corridors of these Companies located around the Wall Street of Addis (Senga Tera) , Kazancis and Bole.
Say what you gotta say but you wouldn’t fault this government when it comes to going digital. It all begins with FAYDA (ፋይዳ ትልቅ ፋይዳ አለዉ), the 5 million coders are bankable human capitals, and the Ministry of Innovation is being pressed very hard to meet ‘unmitigated demands’.
The Ministry of Skills and Labor is also obliged to learn fresh ‘dictions’ like STEM, FROG, Gig Economy, Offshore outsourcing, BPO, etcetera. It is caching up. You know why? It has done the maths and realized that here close by in Kenya Gig is a billion dollar economy and hires more than a million workforces.
Beginning from global brands like Grant Thornton to an indigenous African offshore Company known by the Amharic progenitor Gebeya and head quartered in Addis, Companies equipped with state of the art technology and cutting edge human capital are changing the face of offshore outsourcing business in Africa from their choice designated hub in Addis. Local firebrand entrepreneurs are showing their mettle and business acumen by aggressively marketing their services in native languages among others and exploiting the competitive edge at their disposal-ACCESSING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE STAKEHOLDERS. Most important of all they have forged a united front by organizing under a professional association and pooling effort, resources and experience to claim a good chunk of the virgin market in the Continent.
Business Process Outsourcing is your quintessential quid pro quo of the digital economy for all Companies desiring to give 100% for their core business and outsource the rest.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Ministry of Skills and Labor has a dedicated FROG desk with a team exclusively committed to engage the growing sector of Freelance, Outsourcing and Gig (FROG) Economy.
God Bless.