Slashdot Mirror
Africa Enters Global Market For IT Outsourcing
nusratt writes "MarketWatch reports that many organizations 'are moving away from India as the place to outsource, because of the labor churn, and Africa supplies the highest rate of return on investments. New York's parking ticket system is managed from Ghana, Nigeria has an entire ministry for ICT, and Mauritius is building its own CyberCity. Gartner predicts that up to 25 percent of IT jobs today will be moved to emerging markets by 2010'."
Nigeria is like the internet scam capital of the world they lack the legal infrastructure to be a trustworthy place to do business.
Thats not to say they couldnt turn it around...but its going to take a lot of work.
It's not super in depth, but over at cio.com they have interactive maps comparing different parts of the world for outsourcing.
FYI The the nation that produces the most spam is the Good Ole USA. Just because this scam is popular in Nigera dosn't mean that most nigerian's are scam artists. A couple of months ago over 500 scammers were arrested. Of course slashdot decided not to publish the story.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
hurriedly pasted text (before we start getting the: bandwidth exhausted for the next millennium message)
By ECT News Syndication Desk 07/18/04 5:49 PM PT
There are many areas in which African countries, eager to move into this space, can carve out a niche for themselves. The lucrative call center sector is one such area. Creating an environment that makes offshore outsourcing in Africa attractive can have many positive spin-offs for the continent as a whole, not just in terms of increased employment, additional revenue and new skills, but also in terms of changing the perception the developed world has about Africa.
With the rising cost of local production and labor in developed countries like the United States, many companies, especially in the IT arena are looking to the developed world for answers -- and finding them. Countries like India have successfully positioned themselves as niche providers of outsourced labor in IT and are reaping the benefits. And, as analysts continue to predict a growth in this type of outsourcing, the opportunity is ripe for other developing countries to tap into this lucrative market. The question is: Can Africa capture a share of the offshore IT market?
US research firm Gartner Ine is predicting that the outsourcing segment will continue to outperform the western European IT services market overall, growing by 3.1 percent in 2004, then rising steadily during the next three years to an annual increase of 8 percent in 2007. Moreover, as a result of global outsourcing trends, Gartner predicts that up to 25 percent of traditional IT jobs in many developed countries today will be situated in emerging markets by 2010. The move to offshore outsourcing is spurred on by increasing pressure on companies in the developed world to generate profits and reduce costs. Anton Groom of MBS Outsourcing says there is also a drive to follow the sun, to allow them to offer services 24/7 (24 hours, seven days a week). "It therefore makes sense to have offices located in the three primary time zones," says Groom.
He adds that with a client base expanding globally, it also makes sense to provide clients with a global delivery model. As the developing world gains momentum in creating pools of qualified, skilled talent, outsourcing to these regions becomes more attractive.
Following India's Lead
India has managed to create a niche for itself in this area, but it has not happened overnight. Amar Vakil, CEO of Lintas, a US-based management-consulting firm, and founder of the Foreign Investment Promotion Council, explains that there are specific factors that have enabled India to position itself in such a manner. These factors are predominantly a skilled workforce and appropriate infrastructure.
"Twenty to 25 years ago, India was an underdeveloped country. There was a brain drain of skilled labor to developed countries, where, for example there was a need for engineers," says Vakil. "Ten to 15 years ago, people like me, with similar backgrounds, decided to move back to India and there was a huge impetus from government to build world class communications networks. Government started dabbling with public-private partnerships, which now, after 10 or so years are proving very effective."
While this may not be easy to replicate, Vakil believes there are lessons to be learned from India and other countries like the Philippines which have attracted a strong outsource base. "The playing field is level. It is not India's game at all," he says. Although India was one of the first to position itself in this way, "there is an opportunity for other countries to tap into this potential".
Where India focused on information technology and software development, African countries wanting to tap into this opportunity will need to look at IP-enabled services.
Everdream founder and vice-president, Lyndon Rive, agrees that Africa can move into this arena. "Third world countries are getting educated enough to offer IT
i live on an alternate planet
Oh yes, offshore outsourcing is going to be huge! Oh and by the way, we do have our own offshore outsourcing consullting services!
Not saying they are wrong, but you just gotta wonder if they may have alterior motives....
Whatever about the labour markets in India and China, the real reason for this move is too keep wages, everywhere, down. If the Indian or Chinese programmers start asking for an extra 50 cent an hour, move it to Africa. And hey! There's still South America and Latin America id things go wrong there too!
I think that South America is already quite expensive for that alreay... Perhaps Central America instead.
Well, let's see...
Biotech - most of the drug companies are already moving R&D to India; it's a lot cheaper when you can dump your leftovers in the drain rather than having to dispose of them properly. Test subjects are cheaper, too. GE has moved their next-gen MRI stuff there, too. So much for medi-tech. as well.
Nanotech - Most MEMS fabrication is going to be done in China. Most economists say it doesn't pay to have your R&D for fabs far away from the fabs themselves. Most EDA outsourcing is already offshore (as is a lot of design). What makes you think MEMS work is going to be any different?
Advanced computer technology - Name one that an Indian or Chinese brain can't figure out as well as an American one. Most robotics AI work now is being done in Japan. US funding for same is in the dumper and it is highly unlikely that publically traded companies will see the short term payoff to invest in speculative technologies.
Space tech - Well, see what I said about "advanced computer technology" and double it for this. Plus the government is sloughing off research in this area as fast as they can.
Bottom line, we don't have a premier R&D system anymore. Corporations don't want to fund R labs to fuel the D. Regulated monopolies (which once provided them) are now simply quasi-protected entities that still have to answer to the corporate shareholders. Government R&D continues to be slashed and most of that money goes to universities to train foreigners because Americans know that once they work for X years studying science and technology their jobs will be gone.
High tech doesn't buy the future in a world of open and fast communication - the knowledge diffuses too rapidly. Unless you have some structural barrier to knowledge and/or job migration, it will happen.
My opinion - we saw the collapse of unfettered socialism about twenty years ago. It's about time for the collapse of unfettered capitalism. My best guess says about five years from now...
That is all.
Quite a few huh? I count 2 in this study, which also shows genital warts to be more common in circumcised men:k 1/
http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/coo
I don't know about you, but I prefer the choice of keeping it clean instead of having it cut off without consent.
I used to work for a large oil company with a base in Nigeria. A key problem was that people were kidnapped when arriving at the airport.
I'm looking forward to my companys lawyers and VPs getting kidnapped when arriving at Lagos Intl. to negoiate the outsourcing contracts.
Serve them right.