India, African countries team on IT projects

ACCRA, GHANA – India is working on a chain of collaborative projects with several African countries, at least in part to benefit from the burgeoning market for business process outsourcing (BPO) services.

India and Mauritius, for example, plan in to unveil in May the first component of a major collaborative project, the Ebene Cybercity. India also is collaborating with Ghana in the area of ICT (information and communications technology) training and has also planned a number of joint projects in the areas of distance education, bio-energy, e-medicine and e-commerce with South Africa.

In December last year, the Kofi Annan Centre of excellence for Communications and IT was officially opened here in Ghana’s capital, Accra. The center offers training to Ghanaians, with particular emphasis on skills for specific industries and businesses.

Under the bilateral agreement, India would provide state-of-the-art computer hardware including servers, desktop printers and scanners. It would also provide software and communications equipment such as routers, switches and other equipment required at the center.

India also is providing technical assistance to 10 community information centers across the country.

Ghana wants to tap into the business process outsourcing market with the skilled labor it turns out from these centers.

“If we are able to do it properly, we hope to take 5 percent of the BPO market by 2007,” said Frank Agyekum, a spokesman of the Ghanaian government.

In Mauritius, the Indian government is offering technical and financial assistance to Mauritius in its Ebene Cybercity project. The Knowledge Park will provide world-class facilities for ICT companies.

Although it is not clear what the immediate economic benefits of the collaboration between India and Ghana and South Africa are, the aid to Mauritius seems to be driven by an interest in business process outsourcing.

According to Bilaal Salemohamed, assistant marketing manager of the Business Parks of Mauritius Ltd., Mauritius’ Ebene Cybercity project was stirred up by the Indian government to strengthen its edge in the BPO market.

Although India has built an impressive client base from the U.S., U.K. and Australia, it has not been able do the same for the French-speaking market, Salemohamed said.

India is therefore partnering with Mauritius to ride on its’ bilingual (English and French) work force to reach the French-speaking market.

Mauritius anticipates that the partnership has the potential of creating 20,000 jobs in that sector and generating revenue of $1 billion for the country by 2008.