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Africa now Outsourcing Sector Destination of Choice

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The salary ranges of African contact centre agents are anything between $546 and $175 per month. Meanwhile, a contact centre manager can earn up to $2 200, to a minimum of $406 per month.

These findings emerged in a new report that plots the growth of global business services (GBS), also known as business process outsourcing (BPO), on the African continent.

The “2021 Africa Global Business Services (GBS) Benchmarking and Market Report” was conducted by Knowledge Executive between February and July.

It is based on profiling surveys of 504 GBS/BPO service providers, delivery centres, analysts and stakeholders across 19 African nations regarded as having mature and emerging GBS and BPO sectors.

Africa’s large youth population and its “competitive” salary and labour costs are among the drivers behind its rise as an industry powerhouse.

The continent has an abundance of educated youth within its labour pool, with many equipped with multilingual proficiency in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, and some German, Chinese and Italian expertise in some instances, states the report.

This workforce also has high levels of empathy and emotional intelligence. There are also low attrition rates, and strong investor support and incentives.

Speaking during a webinar announcing the report’s findings, Mark Angus, CEO and managing editor of Knowledge Executive, a Pan-African research and media firm, said the African global business services sector is poised for exponential growth over the next three years.

Angus noted that a large population of African youth are entering the labour market. “Youth employees are more suited for GBS operations, as they have the energy, the tenacity to handle the high-paced environment of GBS and BPO operations, especially call centres.”

The salary ranges of African contact centre agents are highly competitive compared to those in the European Union, US and the UK, and range between $175 and $546 per month in terms of salary and labour costs, he stated.

A country-specific focus of the contact centre agents’ salaries shows Tunisia has the highest salary, with $546, followed by Kenya with $534, and $514 in Morocco. Ethiopia has the lowest at $175.

South Africa is number four on the list, with an average monthly salary of $465. At the mid-point are Egypt, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, ranging from $402 to $360 per month.

SA leads as the country with the highest contact centre manager monthly salary of $2 200, followed by Tunisia with $1 702, Kenya $1 616, and Namibia $1 444.

The report also highlights BPO and IT outsourcing as being at the forefront of Africa’s rapid growth rates, bolstered by improved economic governance, relative political stability, as well as focused efforts from African policymakers to support the sector.

Based on market projections, the report shows Africa’s total GBS offshoring market will reach $9.6 billion by 2023, from $7.8 billion in 2021.

Collectively, the domestic and international GBS markets across the continent generate about $15.1 billion in revenue, which is expected to rise to $19.8 billion in 2023.

According to the report, SA and Egypt are the two leading maturing markets.

While many industries have shed jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global business services/BPO sector managed to create job opportunities during this challenging period, and has been identified as key for future employment prospects.

Within the South African context, the BPO sector has witnessed heightened growth. It is also toutedas one of the green shoots that will steer the country’s economic reconstruction and recovery.

The sector is targeting 100 000 new jobs by 2023 and 500 000 by 2030. SA also claimed top spot as the most favoured offshore location for call centres worldwide, based on the 2021 Front Office BPO Omnibus Survey.

In terms of the estimations of the GBS/BPO workforce sizes in each of the key locations, Angus highlighted that SA and Egypt are neck-and-neck, with 261 082 and 240 000 employees, respectively.

He noted that SA’s GBS/BPO industry consists much more of domestic outsourcing workers at over 200 000, and around 43 000 are international servicing workers.

Meanwhile, Egypt is the other way round, with over 198 000 international servicing workers, and just over 42 000 domestic outsourcing workers, he added.

SA is said to be the continent’s largest GBS player by market share (domestic and international), valued at an estimated $4.7 billion.

“The country has a sizeable English-speaking workforce, with competencies across most outsourcing services, including digitally-enabled contact centre and customer experience lifecycle management services.

“Surveyed enterprise executives rated the country best for contact centre voice, back-office processing and customer administration service delivery,” states the report.

Egypt has the second-largest domestic and international GBS market share on the continent, valued at $4 billion (excluding IT services).

“The country offers a highly-skilled, multilingual, diverse talent pool, with competitive labour costs and the second-largest youth population in Africa (36.3 million citizens aged between 18-35 years). The native Arabic language also opens Egypt to the Arabic market of 300 million consumers.”

Turning to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, it boasts a well-established ICT sector – the largest on the continent.

“This feature serves as an excellent foundation for developing the country’s GBS industry, which is already valued at an estimated $286.8 million and employing approximately 16 540 workers,” notes the report.

“Coupled with a focus on sector-specific skills and education, the country stands poised to take advantage of the largest population of English speakers in Africa and the highest number of youths aged between 18-35 years in Africa (53 million).”

The report pointed out that smaller nations are also capitalising on this increasing international demand.

Rwanda is an emerging GBS market, with a large population of English- and French-speakers able to service English and Francophone countries. “It offers reliable and advanced communications infrastructure with 95% LTE network coverage.”

Southern African nation Botswana is another emerging GBS location, with the country said to boast macro-economic stability, attractive investment incentives and a growing pool of educated, English-speaking workers.

Senegal has become a popular French alternative market for BPO services. Ghana has a scalable pool of English-speaking and computer-literate talent and a growing youth population. Zimbabwe has bold GBS development plans based on its highly-educated talent pool for niche services.


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Wema Bank Launches Second FGN-ALAT Digital ‘Skillnovation’ Cohort

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Wema Bank has launched the second cohort for the FGN-ALAT Digital Skillnovation Programme in partnership with the Federal Government to train and equip two million young people and 1 million MSMEs across Nigeria with relevant digital skills.

Since the launch of the first cohort in 2023, over 300,000 youths and business owners have leveraged the platform as a launchpad for their business and career success.

This cohort featured 100% virtual learning sessions through which participants from the 36 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were provided with self-paced online learning experiences.

As cohort 2 begins in the second quarter of 2024, the FGN-ALAT digital programme is officially transitioning to physical training sessions and the curriculum will cover key digital skills including software engineering, product management, business analysis, cloud computing and product design, among others.

This phase of the programme will be executed via FGN-ALAT digital hubs, which will be set up in the different states across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria to ensure that every Nigerian can access the programme’s full benefits regardless of their location.

These hubs will be equipped with training and incubation facilities ideal for digital-driven learning, giving participants the opportunity to acquire marketable and transferrable digital skills and gain a competitive edge in the global digital ecosystem.

The FGN-ALAT digital hubs will be set up in phases and trainings will commence accordingly, starting with Borno  and Anambra State.

Wema Bank’s Executive Director of Retail and Digital Business, Tunde Mabawonku, emphasised the pivotal role of the programme in bridging the gaps in Nigeria’s macroeconomic landscape towards national development.

“We are unwavering in our commitment to supporting MSMEs and with the FGN-ALAT Digital Skillnovation Programme, it’s all about the bigger picture—which is why we have partnered with the Federal Government to augment the scale of this programme’s impact.

“By tailoring this programme to suit the needs of both entrepreneurial minded and professionally inclined Nigerians, we are not just arming SMEs for more efficient business management and growth, we are also equipping Nigeria’s workforce for increased productivity and the ripple effect will not only create more viable employment opportunities for Nigerians towards reduced unemployment and underemployment rates, but further drive economic growth and national development, boosting Nigeria’s position on the global playing field.

“The digital evolution is moving sporadically and by empowering our youth and MSMEs with in-demand digital skills, we are ensuring that Nigeria is not left behind as the world evolves.

“Beyond the intellectual resources and other non-monetary opportunities, we are going a step further to provide financial support for these participants in form of millions of naira in equity capital, soft loans and grants, to enable them put their learnings to practice and build sustainable streams of income that could help them become employers in their own right.

“I encourage you to take the big step forward in achieving your business and career goals by joining the programme. All you have to do is visit the website to register. This programme is completely free and there’s more than enough room for you. Your success is Nigeria’s success and as your unique journey unravels, our promise remains certain,” he said.

Referring to the programme as an eye-opener for all, Mariam Isah, a beneficiary of Cohort 1, said, “It’s almost unbelievable all I’ve learnt in one month virtual training.

“I started this training simply looking for a way forward for my business but I have unlocked secrets that are life changing not just in my business but in all aspects of life. I am so grateful for this rare opportunity, and I can’t wait to be a part of the cohort 2.”


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StarNews, Global Black Economic Forum Launch Business Competition In Partnership with MTN & USAID

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Africa’s leading video streaming platform, StarNews Mobile and the Global Black Economic Forum (GBEF), have announced a call for applications for the launch of their Business Competition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Held in partnership with MTN and United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID), the initiative will empower Nigeria’s most promising businesses that are classified as Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with invaluable investment and partnership opportunities from the USA.

Held over 10 weeks between April 8th to June 14th, hosted exclusively on the StarNews Biz Channel on the StarNews platform, this competition offers a platform for emerging entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures and gain national visibility.

With subscribers voting for their favourite candidates, the top 20 contestants will seize the spotlight and make their mark on the business landscape.

The StarNews Business Competition in partnership with GBEF delivers a unique opportunity for thriving Nigerian SMEs to access mentoring, funding, partnerships and socio-economic development tools through the Global Black Economic Forum.

With the prospect of securing cash prizes through StarNews worth up to NGN5,000,000, getting access to StarNews’s network of investors and the opportunity to gain national visibility by having their business on the StarNews web platform.

The top three winners will also receive coaching from GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence and become part of GBEF’s ecosystem of global leaders committed to social and economic justice across the Black Diaspora.

Previous speakers at GBEF convenings from the entertainment sector include Wyclef Jean (Haitian Musician & Activist), Debra Lee (Former CEO of Black Entertainment Television – BET) and Ceci Kurzman (Founder of Nexus Management Group). Applications will close on April 5th 2024.

Speaking on the competition’s launch, Guy Kamgaing, Founder and CEO at StarNews Mobile, says “The StarNews Business Competition is a passion project close to our hearts at StarNews Mobile.

It’s about discovering the most promising business entrepreneurs and creators in Nigeria, opening up global opportunities for them and providing them with the resources and tools to achieve their goals.

By partnering with MTN, USAID and GBEF, we want to be a platform of empowerment for these SMEs by helping them give back to the communities that are supporting them.”

According to the US Embassy and Consulate for Nigeria, over 80% of Nigerian startups are incorporated in the United States and more than 60% of venture capital funding in Nigerian startups accounted for by the US.

In 2023 alone, Nigerian startups raised a total of $398mn however, this signalled a 66% funding decline compared to 2022 due to the global economic downturn, reinforcing the massive need for a fresh injection of capital and business support for Nigeria’s emerging SMEs.

Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum notes that, “Our partnership with StarNews Mobile is a critical resource as we continue to build the collective strength of entrepreneurship across the Diaspora.

“Building a sustainable ecosystem of Black entrepreneurs in the United States and across the African continent is essential to create a future that makes economic opportunity and economic freedom a reality for all.”

A sister company to ESSENCE, GBEF advances its work by convening global summits and conferences, bringing together world leaders, business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities and civic leaders to address the most challenging problems facing our communities.

GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence facilitates workforce and leadership development strategy, addressing the talent pipeline & employee lifecycle, providing leadership development & coaching, and conducting institutional assessments & research.

GBEF also develops and implements economic and social justice policy recommendations with partners ranging from civil and human rights organisations to government entities and corporations that advocate for economic opportunity, social justice, and health equity through thought leadership, advocacy and litigation.

Launched in 2017, StarNews Mobile empowers African content creators with the unique opportunity to monetize their work through a subscription model, boasting over 4 million subscribers and a thriving community of more than 120 content creators.

With a strong presence across six countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire, Congo, Benin and Ghana, the platform has also established key partnerships with major telecom operators such as MTN and Orange.

To-date, StarNews Mobile has secured over $8mn in funding with its most recent raise – a $3mn pre-Series A funding round in October 2023 – led by Janngo Capital with participation from French football players Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jules Koundé and Mike Maignan.

 


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Companies Invest More than $100,000 Yearly to Upskill their Cybersecurity Teams – Study Reveals

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Over 70% of businesses pay more than USD $100,000 for additional training annually to keep skills of their cybersecurity employees up to date, a recent global Kaspersky study has revealed.

However, the surveyed companies also highlighted that there was a lack of relevant courses covering new challenging spheres in the educational market and stated that training does not always bring them the expected result.

In its recent study ‘The portrait of the modern Information Security professional’, Kaspersky examined the topic of the global cybersecurity staff shortage, analysing the exact reasons businesses lack cybersecurity experts, and identifying the ways they evaluate and upskill their cybersecurity workforce¹.

According to the research, companies are investing significant amounts in upskilling their cybersecurity teams: 43% of organisations globally say they usually spend between $100,000 and $200,000 per year on information security courses, while 31% even invest over $200,000 for training programs. The remaining 26% state they usually pay less than $100,000 for educational initiatives².

However, cybersecurity practitioners also note that the educational market is struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing industry and fail to deliver the necessary training programs on time.

Survey results for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa (META) region shows that the scarcity of courses covering new challenging spheres (48%) was the main problem for those searching for cybersecurity training.

50% of respondents from the META region also stated that trainees tend to forget what they learned because they had no opportunity to apply newly acquired knowledge, therefore the courses were useless to them.

The need for special training pre-requisites such as coding and advanced mathematics, which were not specified at the pre-registration stage were also problematic for 37% of practitioners from the META region.

“With a constantly evolving threat landscape, businesses should continually improve the skills of their cybersecurity personnel in order to be well prepared for sophisticated cyberattacks.

“Developing high-profile specialists within the company and building internal expertise can be an effective strategy for organisations that aim to retain existing employees and allow them to grow professionally, instead of constantly hunting for new candidates and checking their professional backgrounds and practical skills.

“For organisations served by Managed Service Providers it is also important to maintain a pretty high level of expertise internally and use the same language when discussing the scope of services and Service Level Agreement with them,” comments Veniamin Levtsov, VP, Center of Corporate Business Expertise at Kaspersky.


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