Last week, a new firm Shaka AI debuted in Rwanda’s outsourcing scene whereby the firm will be providing services to An American firm. The entrance of the firm is in line with Rwanda’s ambitions of becoming a knowledge hub exporting skills and services to the region and beyond. Business Process Outsourcing and Knowledge Process Outsourcing involves contracting of non-primary business activities and allocation of relatively high-level tasks, to an external organization or a different group usually in a different geographic location. With that local firms are contracted to take on tasks for bigger firms globally remotely. The global market for KPO and BPO is estimated at over $2.9 billion with a close to have the revenues going to India. Among services often outsourced under include market research, statistical analysis, legal, web development, software development, animation and graphic design among others. The recent entrants, Shaka AI join a budding industry in Rwanda with firms such as Wiredin and Andela. For the model to work, Rwanda has to be competitive globally in several aspects such as skills and costs as well as seek to have an edge over countries that have long experience in the trend such as India, Philippines and South-Eastern Asia countries. Industry players say that for more firms to debut under the model and thrive in Rwanda, there is need to market the availability of skills available in the country and what edge they have over dominant players globally. The model is also dependent on having the latest and relevant skills that are not only competitive nationally or regionally but globally. Alain Kajangwe, the Founder and Chief Executive of Wiredin, one of the first firms in the country in IT outsourcing told Business Times that to further develop the outsourcing sector, there is need to create awareness of available skills that match clients’ needs. “There is a global market for outsourcing services, one has to make sure that you are competitive in skills offering and pricing,” he said. Kajangwe’s firm has for years provided services to firms in Japan and parts of Europe. Kajangwe’s firm, Wiredin, has for years provided services to firms in Japan and parts of Europe. / Courtesy He added that among the ways to grow the market is Business To Business links to showcase the skill sets available in Rwanda, capabilities and offering to potential clients. Chanel Gisage, the President of Shaka AI who has about 15 years experience in BPO told Business Times that among the prerequisites is a structured ecosystem with affordable and reliable broadband to enable service providers to work remotely and communicate effectively. Kajangwe added that the affordability of internet is critical because it has an impact on the profit margins of a firm providing outsourcing services. “If the broadband is too expensive, it has implications on your profitability. It’s important that it’s affordable and reliable,” he said. Gisage also added that for the model to work, having a pool of skills is important to be relevant on a global scale. He said that the presence of African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) and Carnegie Mellon University Rwanda gives confidence on the ability of the sector to thrive. Alex Ntale, the Chief Executive of the ICT Chamber of the Private Sector Federation, said that the chamber is working to increase connections between international companies and local outsourcing service providers “Currently at the ICT chamber what we are doing is increase deliberate connections between international companies seeking to build outsourcing opportunities with our local members through Business to Business Matching platforms, we are seeing an increasing number of local companies open to this business model and particularly those interested in starting with small numbers to prove concept,” he said. With the global market for BPO and KPO growing he said that its important to ensure that there is the right skills set compatible to the global market demands to guarantee relevance. “The global BPO and KPO market is huge and some clients require thousands of seats or qualified candidates and most times you cannot find that talent pool all at once. So when we find partners willing to start with a few 10-20 as they test the environment then they begin to expand the seats,” he said. Andela which entered the Rwandan market last year and has plans to hire up to 500 developers in the next years was this year forced to lay off close to 400 of its developers working in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda in an attempt to be fit for purpose in line with their clients demands. The company said that the layoffs were necessitated by a demand for senior developers by their clients which has made it a challenge keeping junior developers. The PSF ICT chamber also has plans to set up a Global Sourcing platform for the business model which is likely to play roles such as marketing, skills development and advocacy among others. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
