Industry urges stronger gov’t backing to grow outsourcing sector

…eyes 100,000 jobs

By Juliet ETEFE

The Business Outsourcing Services Association Ghana (BOSAG) has called for stronger government backing to accelerate growth of Ghana’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Global Business Services (GBS) sector, stressing that coordinated policy support and targeted investment would spur jobs and position the country as a competitive outsourcing destination globally.

The call came at a high-level government-industry roundtable organised by Concentrix in partnership with BOSAG under the theme: ‘Positioning Ghana as a Competitive Global BPO/GBS Destination: From Strategy to Execution’.

The engagement brought together government officials, industry leaders and development partners to discuss policy coordination, skills development, infrastructure, investor confidence and market access needed to strengthen Ghana’s outsourcing ecosystem and attract more international firms.

Chief Executive Officer of BOSAG, David Gowu, said Africa currently accounts for only 2.8 percent of the global outsourcing industry despite the market being valued at an estimated US$1.5trillion globally.

He observed that countries such as South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are aggressively positioning themselves as outsourcing destinations while Ghana continues to expand without deliberate international promotion. According to him, global outsourcing firms already operating in Ghana, including Teleperformance and Concentrix, have collectively employed more than 2,500 people locally.

Mr. Gowu said the sector has the potential to absorb thousands of unemployed graduates while generating foreign exchange earnings and stimulating economic activity through taxes and auxiliary services.

“We are producing more graduates than the economy can absorb. We want companies to come to Ghana, set up here, employ our people here and allow them to build careers while contributing to the economy,” he said.

Government commitment

Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting the sector and described BOSAG as a critical partner in Ghana’s digital transformation agenda.

He said the ministry would work closely with agencies including the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to strengthen investor attraction efforts and improve market access for outsourcing firms operating in Ghana.

The minister disclosed that the One Million Coders programme officially commenced this week across more than 150 training centres nationwide and stressed that government’s focus would extend beyond training to actual employment outcomes. “For me, the One Million Coders is not just a political tool. It goes beyond saying we have trained one million people. The real question is what happens to those people after the training,” he said.

He welcomed BOSAG’s ambition to facilitate 100,000 jobs within the outsourcing industry and urged industry players to define the specific skills required by outsourcing companies so government could align training programmes with market demand. “If you let us know you need data analysts, data processors or data annotators, we will adapt the training to prepare graduates specifically for those opportunities,” he added.

The minister also encouraged outsourcing firms to expand beyond Accra into other regions where lower operational costs and access to French-speaking talent could support multilingual outsourcing services targeted at regional and international markets.

He further indicated government’s readiness to support the sector with infrastructure where concrete demand exists. “If you come to government and say you need 10,000 square metres or more, we will take that up as an assignment to identify government properties that can support you,” he said.

Mr. George cited Ghana’s political stability, English-speaking workforce, favourable time zone and international reputation as competitive advantages capable of helping the country secure a larger share of the global outsourcing market.

Other stakeholders

Nana Aba Edzie of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change said stakeholders identified government enablement as critical to unlocking the sector’s growth potential.

According to her, discussions narrowed the industry’s challenges into five priority areas requiring urgent intervention: political advocacy and investor confidence; skills alignment; demand generation; infrastructure and repurposing of state-owned buildings and market access reforms. “We need to align sector ministries, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Youth and Gender, and various agencies to work together so we can have a coordinated strategy for the sector,” she said.

She explained that stronger political ownership would send a clear signal to international investors that Ghana is committed to supporting the long-term development of the outsourcing industry.

Ms. Edzie also called for closer collaboration between government and industry under the One Million Coders programme to create a “training-to-employment pipeline” capable of linking graduates directly to opportunities within the outsourcing sector. On infrastructure, she noted that high operational and real estate costs in Accra continue to affect investor decisions and proposed that government repurpose dormant public buildings into ready-to-use outsourcing facilities with flexible leasing arrangements.

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