Offshore Outsourcing blossoming in Ghana

Accra (Greater Accra), February 5, 2007 – The Ministry of Communications with the support of the World Bank carried out a study last year to establish Ghana's idealness for Business Process Outsourcing and Information Communication Technology (ICT) enabled services in the country.

Even before the study’s final report was made public, a major US based BPO operator has began operations in Ghana with an initial staff of 25 employees. International Outsourcing Service with plants in Mexico, Slovakia, India, France and Germany is set to make a mark in the $300 billion outsourcing market in sub-Saharan Africa. The company with the assistance of a Ghanaian resident in the United States started pilot operations in December 2006 under the name Novel Solutions, Ltd. This was after it conducted its own private study of the BPO market in Ghana.

Kwame Dwamena Dakwa, CEO of Novel Solutions was ecstatic about the prospects of offshore outsourcing in Ghana. After attending middle and high school in Ghana, Kwame entered Indiana University, Bloomington on a Track and Field scholarship as a sprinter. He graduated in 1992 with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Psychology. After working in corporate America in several positions, he opted to pursue a doctoral program in Educational Psychology. According to him it was during this program that he became indirectly involved with offshore outsourcing. “I am very blessed to have the opportunity to bring such a dynamic 21st century business to Ghana and the sub-region.” As he calmly pointed out, outsourcing is a $500 billion industry that is dominated by Asian countries. India the global hub of the outsourcing industry is uneasily watching China overtake them with their huge population and low wages. It is this same comparative advantage that Novel Solutions believes Ghana can benefit. Ghana’s position in the same time zone as Europe was a factor in Novel Solutions winning a contract from France. Novel is able to receive jobs which they work on and return to clients in France before the close of business everyday. Mr. K. D. Dakwa hinted that Novel is at an advanced stage of receiving more job types from an American company. He pleaded with Government to assist in making the private sector aware of the various opportunities in the industry and strengthening the outsourcing association in Ghana.

With a plethora of computer educated workforce, Ghana has uniquely set itself ready to receive majority of the business in the sub-region. It is emerging as the sub-region’s offshore outsourcing hub. Ghana has gained a good image in the international community with its steady economy, political stability, and reasonable labor rates. According to the Ministry of Communications, a directorate has been set up to specifically entice and assist such new business in Ghana. The Ghana Free Zone Board is another entity that government has set-up to create an enabling environment for business. The government is also facilitating the connectivity arrangement to enable most Ghanaian business use ICT effectively to create wealth and reduce poverty.

Business development experts have predicted a huge growth of offshore outsourcing in Africa in the next decade. This multi-billion dollar industry can be credited with India’s rapid economic gains in the last 8 years. If effectively managed in Ghana, it could end up supplying a large chunk of Ghana’s revenue.