Africa can profit from the US$500 billion global Business Process Outsourcing boom: says ECA's Opoku-Mensah

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Africa can profit from the US$500 billion global Business Process Outsourcing boom – says ECA’s Opoku-Mensah

ECA Press Release 147/2012

Addis Ababa, 12 September 2012 (ECA) - African countries have been urged to invest in their ICT sectors and take a share of the growing Business Process Outsourcing, currently generating over US$500 billion annually. The call was made by Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director, ICT, Science and Technology Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) today at the ICT/BPO2012 international conference, jointly organized by the ICT Ministry of Mauritius and the ECA.

"We are seeing how countries such as Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia have become among the top offshore

business destinations in the world according to the AT Kearney Global Services Index of 2011,” she said in her opening address in the island State.

The conference is being held against the backdrop of increasing Africa’s rising capacity to do business and as such, the conference offers stakeholders a unique platform for discussing trends in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing KPO) sectors. The platform also aims to encourage African countries to take advantage of these dynamic global industries through their ICT sectors. According to the ECA, the two sectors, previously limited to a few geographic locations have now broadened in scope to attract more emerging economies and economies in transition.

Also speaking at the opening, Mr. Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum, Minister for Information and Communication Technology underscored the need to take advantage of this growing confidence vis a vis the Continent. He told participants that eight African countries rank ahead of China; and 17 ahead of India, with Mauritius being the highest ranked African country, according to the 2012 Doing Business Rankings. “Africa's time has come,” he stressed.

He lauded the joint ICT/BPO forum as “a great platform for Africa to exchange ideas with itself and the rest of the world,” and added;”ECA's strong foothold in Africa, its immense credibility and its effective ability to facilitate the participation of its member states makes it an excellent partner.”

The potential for more African countries joining the ICT/BPO sector is growing. With the landing of many international and regional fibre-optic cables on several parts of the continent, countries now have access to high-speed and high capacity Internet, hence increasing the enabling infrastructure potential for ICT services. The continent also has some competitive advantages: multilingual English, French, Portuguese workforce; younger demography, as well as geographical proximity and time zone advantages.

ECA will work closely with the Government of Mauritius on this annual event and on the implementation of the outcomes of this year's conference, including developing an African BPO framework to assist countries with strategies for the BPO sector.

Issued by:

ECA Information and Communication Service P.O. Box 3001

Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Tel: 251 11 5445098 Fax: +251-11-551 03 65 E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org

Web: www.uneca.org

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