The Nigeria Association of Information Technology Enabled Outsourcing Companies (NAITEOC) has said that Nigeria’s annual oil revenue is far below income raked in by India through outsourcing.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek checks indicate that as of 2012, around 2.8 million people work in outsourcing sector in India with annual revenue around $11 billion, around 1% of GDP. Around 2.5 million people graduate in India every year.

Dr. Daura Ashiru, director, Software Outsourcing, National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda) said that NAITEOC was established to reverse the trend.

According to him, Nigeria by the virtue of her diverse language and position in Africa can be a big hub for outsourcing in West Africa region and the continent at large.

“In the current trend, globally, Nigeria by the virtue of our languages and position in Nigeria we can be a big hub for outsourcing in West Africa region and Africa in general. The establishment of this is a step towards ensuring this.

“The market is big, the opportunities are there and the future is bright. Though one cannot ascribe the amount accruable from the sub-sector but we are talking about billions of naira. For instance, India makes more money in this area than what Nigeria makes in oil. So, you can imagine what we the sector holds. And we are more advantageous than India in this area,” Ashiru said.

He added that NITDA will work closely with the Association towards ensuring that the business processing outsourcing (BPO) market is leveraged to generate employment in Nigeria, among other largesse    

“To a layman, BPO is a process whereby you outsource some business processes which are not primary to your operations. There are two types: local and international. On local front or the onshore, ministries and companies outsource certain functions; for instance, a wine brewing company may not necessarily establish factory to produce bottles, they can outsource that function. On the offshore scale or international ground, a company like MTN with headquarters in South Africa can deploy Nigerians to their help desks in such a way that when people call Nigerians will be the ones to attained to them in Lagos, not in Johannesburg.

“That is the market we are looking forward to establishing. The onshore outsourcing will reduce unnecessary spending in government quarters. It will bring investment from outside.

Although people are usually laid off when companies outsource their operations but more businesses are established to absorb them, especially those that have ungraded their knowledge in the needed areas. Invariably, there will be more employment,” he said.

He disclosed that Federal Government has mapped out N20 million for NAITEOC’s as a take-off grant.

Ashiru, said the IT outsourcing is gradually enlarging and there is need for the sector to be well governed through an umbrella body so as to open doors for job creation, source of revenue for Nigeria and improved performance.

He said outsourcing of IT products and services is a big market in which only partnership between government and private sector could really exploit the opportunities.

The Director explained that the agency’s aim of formulating the umbrella body was to effectively facilitate advocacy efforts at advancing the development of outsourcing business in the country, utilise resources meant for outsourcing in the national policy and coordinate the monitoring and evaluation of the outsourcing sector and to have an identity that interfaces with government and play effectively at

Also speaking, Chris Uwaje, president, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) stressed that outsourcing is a strategy to multiplying the resources in the IT sector, especially among the youths. “When you look at the youths who are the 63% of our population, when you do outsourcing, you are really diffusing the resources into many areas, just because those youths must have a voice.

“We have a large of opportunities that we can cease. Outsourcing is a great venture for the knowledge economy. Lagos State for example has close to 19 million people should have at least 10 outsourcing outputs. Lekki should be an outsourcing zone and Ikeja can be made an outsourcing corridor. A section of Otigba market can be turned into an IT outsourcing enabled Institute, so that people can be trained on the norms and standards on what outsourcing should be. Perhaps, outsourcing for our banking industry holds a huge venture.

“Our banks are opening branches in West Africa and they are moving to East Africa and London; they should be able to establish the service that will enable good delivery over there from home. That is why you found Obama saying that those who are moving to other countries can even start from their homes.  So, it is a job enabler,” he said.

Uwaje, however bemoaned that the sub-sector, like every business in Nigeria is challenged by infrastructural deficit.

“Outsourcing is really facility management. It is core layer of skills; how do you manage the broadband connectivity, the security, the intellectual property.  We should not forget that outsourcing controls the intellectual property that resides within that environment; how do you manage it against theft from the internet servers? However, you do not run away from challenges, but you tackle them head-on.  There are also challenges of opportunities, because you will not start outsourcing until there is power. That will be a misnomer. It is a knowledge economy and we must be in there, especially now we have 110 million mobile phone carriers.   We are in mobile economy and have to be deep in outsourcing. There are various businesses coming from all over the world looking for outsourcing that will help them move on,” he noted.