Why More Global Business Brands are Tapping into Africa’s Tech Talent

Tek Experts -

4 min read

Three African Tech Support Engineers at the Tek Experts office

May 4th, 2022

As demand for digitally enabled transformation and technology support services expands, global enterprises are increasingly looking to Africa’s digital talent to fill the technology skills void.

However, an array of misconceptions continue to blur Africa’s reputation as a vibrant global IT outsourcing (ITO) destination. These range from poor connectivity to a lack of the right ITO and digital skills.

In reality, Africa’s flourishing digital economies boast highly sophisticated ICT infrastructures enabling a strong digital talent pipeline delivering complex and specialized ITO services. Several IT outsourcing organizations have been successful in attracting a striking number of global brands to tap into skills across the continent.

To manage Africa’s IT outsourcing narrative, it is necessary to debunk these misconceptions.

Common tech misconceptions of Africa

One view is that Africa has a complete lack of ICT infrastructure, preceding the notion that Africa has low technology usage. The continent’s vast network of 17 undersea cables shows how this notion is wrong. As a result of this infrastructure, internet usage across the continent increased by 233% between 2010 and 2021.

Another misconception is a perceived lack of technology skills on the continent. Contradicting this view is the annual number of ICT graduates entering Africa’s workforce, estimated to be at least 1.4 million, and climbing.

Despite this, there is still an impression that IT outsourcing work is given to Africa as an act of charity or as a last resort. Opposing this belief is the strong presence of global technology brands, such as AWS, Google and Microsoft, establishing service delivery centers and innovation hubs in a number of African countries. These operations do not form part of corporate social investment (CSI) programs, but rather as strategic global service delivery initiatives.

Africa’s ITO value proposition

Africa’s digital progression has occurred relatively recently when compared to many advanced global digital economies. Next-generation technologies deployed across the continent are cutting-edge and unhindered by the technology legacy constraints facing advanced nations. In fact, it’s well known that Africa has ‘’leapfrogged’’ in digital competitiveness and tech readiness.

This has created a boom in digital entrepreneurship, especially in Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa which have attained the lion’s share of venture capital investments.

growing number of new entrants in Africa’s digital market have subsequently broadened the continent’s ITO capabilities to offshore markets. Basic ITO services are being augmented by more complex and specialist domains, such as software development and artificial intelligence (AI).

An increasing number of global technology organizations are establishing ITO delivery sites in Africa. Tek Experts has its largest IT outsourcing delivery site in Nigeria, growing from 200 staff in 2018 to 1,800 today, all working together to serve a global client base. Rwanda now hosts Tek Experts’ second African delivery site, employing 100 tech support workers and on track to add another 500 by the end of 2022.

Attracting global business buyers

Like several ITO providers in Africa, Tek Experts has made significant contributions in managing Africa’s tech outsourcing narrative. Inbound ‘’show and tell’’ initiatives have been incredibly successful in showcasing world-class infrastructure and delivery capabilities, following the same blueprint of those found in other global locations.

More importantly, these campaigns enable clients to meet and see the work of skilled support personnel, presenting a compelling testament of Africa’s rich tech expertise. Tech support services and other ITO work delivered from the continent is comparable to the same services delivered from anywhere in the world.

The simple ability to perform and deliver exceptional outcomes has been the greatest method of attracting global business buyers to Africa. Tek Experts’ success in achieving scalability and rapid growth rests solely on the resilience, adaptability, and skillset of its employees. When business buyers see exceptional results, they trust Africa’s talent and invest more.

Putting an end to digital misconceptions

The misconceptions that have riddled Africa in the past are being shaken into redundancy with strides by many governments across the continent to digitize economies and enable people with technology. Africans are quickly learning and adopting new technologies at an astonishing rate.

Performance has been the primary driver of attracting an increasing number of international partners to the continent, largely thanks to the skills of the local digital talent.

An eBook published by Tek Experts uncovers Africa’s IT outsourcing abilities further, covering these key points:

  • Africa’s rise as a dynamic IT outsourcing location
  • ITO strengths and opportunities
  • ICT workforce and annual graduates
  • Enabling ICT infrastructure
  • A Tek Experts Nigeria success story

Download the eBook here.

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