At the Outsourcing World Summit Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Communications, The Honorable Gideon Quarcoo, revealed some interesting developments to Globalization Today co-founder Larry Genkin.
On Being New to Outsourcing
“A lot of people may associate Ghana with excellence in soccer, and we don't mind that. But there’s an awful lot else going on. Soccer is basically a microcosm of the kind of spirit that’s out there in Ghana. People think about us as the new kid on the block just because most of the players are huge. They have large global corporate footprints and ours is relatively a small one. But that is fine. Ghana’s valuable position is the human talent pool that we have.”
On University Educated Talent
Annually, we’re sending about 100,000 into universities, which means annually we’re graduating somewhere around that number. Now there are many places for them to get employed. A lot are leaving the country to go overseas and so on. We want to keep some of that talent at home to help develop our nation.
On Moving Beyond Call Centers & Data Processing
It’s not just about operating a call center or data processing facility. We have accountants that are looking for work. This type of “knowledge work” can be done in a place like Ghana. What we are saying to the rest of the world is, “Come check us out because you may be in for some surprises.” The government has made a very deliberate statement aboutcreating jobs in Ghana across a broad spectrum. It’s not just low-end paying jobs but also high-end paying jobs. We are on a mission. This is just the very beginning.
On Being The Gateway to Africa
“I don't think that the Queen came to visit Ghana by accident. Neither did Tony Blair. Neither did Bill Clinton. Neither did George Bush. Recently, neither did Obama. These people came to Ghana for a reason. We are being seen now as the gateway to Africa. You would ask, “But why? There are bigger economies.” Take South Africa for instance – what’s our competitive advantage? Ghana is a very secure place to do business and that is a key consideration. You want to make sure when you sleep at night that your investment is safe; you can wake up in the morning and your workers will turn up at work and produce. You want to make sure that you yourself – in terms of your personal safety – are safe walking the streets and there is no problem. You want to make sure that your investment is not going to be disrupted by some kind of political upheaval. Ghana has one of the most stable democracies – if not the most stable democracy – in Africa. That is saying a lot.
On Being World Class
World class thrives on a certain set of principles and conditions. What I would say to the potential investor is that Ghana has those world class indicators that would permit them to succeed and make their operation – and Ghana – a world-class destination over time.
I have been talking about the talent pool. Let’s not mistake it; it’s a large talent pool. Ghana alone would have about 10 to 11 million employable in terms of numbers. But when it comes to Ghana as a member of a block – Ghana exists within the ECOWAS which is the Economic Community of West African States. That is 250 million people. Many of those folks travel across borders to work.
On The Ghanian Accent & Language Advantage
We have to go back to the history. Ghana was a British colony. So that means that English is something we’ve spoken from birth to grave. Our institutions are run in English. Our official business language is English. You go to school, you study English. So, we’ve been steeped in that language. Tthe sound of a Ghanian speaking English approximates as closely as you can the Middle American or English standard accent. It is neutral. It doesn’t have any regional bias. It’s a very trainable accent.
On How Expensive is Ghana
When you’re investing overseas, you want to make sure that your risk averse and you’re reducing your exposure. You want make sure that the factors for setting up your business have a cost profile that doesn’t outweigh the gains you’re going to make, and you want to make sure that the labor rate is at least competitive. So, from the perspective from all of those, I’ll tell you that Ghana – I’ve heard it said – approximates to Indian price structure in terms of wage cost, labor cost. What I hear is that that makes us very competitive. We’re not cheap, cheap; but we’re by no means expensive. We think that you’re going to get so much quality for that price that it makes us – it leverages our advantages over the competition.
|
|
Ali is the Founder & Publisher of Globalization Today