On the 24th of February 2022, Lydia Schubert Nakayenze walked into the BPO & Innovation Council boardroom at the Nakawa innovation hub for a vetting exercise, hoping to find support for her business in terms of visibility, market, and creation of synergies.
After rigorous vetting, her company OncaPlanta Uganda Ltd, which develops animal, plant, and human health products from indigenous Ugandan plants, was chosen as one of Uganda’s representatives at the Dubai Expo 2020.
A few months after the Expo, Nakayenze is glad her company was given that opportunity.
“The Dubai Expo gave us a lot of visibility. We are now well known to the Market. I am identified as the person from the Dubai Expo on every door you knock on. At the Expo, we interacted with big players in the Ugandan Business Industry and Internationally. One of the companies we went with, Badaya Technologies is helping us develop a machine to crack our nuts, for example. I am excited about the future. With the partnerships I have been exposed to, I’m on a path to create many more jobs for the People in Otuke district,” says Nakayenze.
Hareesh Sahadevan, Managing Director, Emvigo Technologies, a BPO company showcased at the Expo, shares a similar tale.
“The Dubai Expo exposed Emvigo to different innovators and companies in and outside Uganda. This gave us a huge opportunity to interact and showcase all our innovative ideas and how we do business, impacting other companies’ business growth we pattern with and the people we work with across the world,” Sahadevan said.
He adds that since the expo, the company has been able to create 60 jobs.
Nakayenze’s and Sahadevan’s stories demonstrate the BPO & Innovation Council’s efforts to increase the competitiveness and capability of Uganda as a Business Process Outsourcing destination and innovation powerhouse.
Uganda has identified Business process outsourcing and ICT Innovations as avenues that will create employment for the country’s youth. Business process outsourcing involves contracting nonprimary business activities to a third-party provider. Functions outsourced may include human resources and accounting front office functions like customer care.
In line with the above aspirations, the Hon. Minister of State for ICT, Hon. Joyce Ssebugwawo, in November, appointed a Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) and Innovation Council to work with the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance to formulate strategies for creating jobs for the youth through ICT outsourcing and Innovation, prescribe regulatory frameworks/reforms and projects relevant to the growth of the BPO and Innovation industry.
“Uganda has a young, energetic, eager, and trainable population ready to take on work in this industry and the ability to innovate at the level attained by any other youth internationally. For example, Makerere University graduated 12,474 students during the recent graduation. Our role as a council entails creating opportunities for this talent,” explains Prof. William Bazeyo, the chairman of the BPO & Innovation council.
Since its inauguration, the council moved fast to pave the way for the ultimate goal of creating employment for Uganda’s youth. A vast array of stakeholders has been consulted, and an implementation plan has been developed—this plan details deliberate, measurable, and time-bound steps to achieve this objective.
According to the plan, 18,000 jobs will be created within the first 18 months of implementation.
Several significant steps are being taken to achieve the objective.
Developing a BPO policy.
The council is in the latter stages of developing a BPO policy with the Regulatory Environment Analysis already completed. This policy will guide the public and private sectors by providing a clear and reliable framework under which the BPO and innovations sectors will operate.
The BPO policy shall also create visibility and international competitiveness of the local BPO and innovation sectors; and clarify the mandates of the different actors in the eco-system.
Creating Partnerships and Investment Opportunities
Engagements are being had with various entities in various countries, including Romania, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Estonia. The objectives are to showcase Uganda’s potential as an outsourcing and innovations destination to attract buyers and partners to Uganda, to engage in B2B meetings with potential investment partners as well as potential buyers of Uganda’s services towards the development of buyer-seller agreements, and to learn how the country level marketing structures, operate to support the ecosystem.
Through the engagements, companies like CLUJ-IT, GIZ and Enabel, Abacus Cambridge, Allied group, and others are already making tangible steps towards creating partnerships in various areas of Uganda’s innovation BPO and Innovations ecosystem.
A re-energized NIISP
The council completed a review to revamp the National ICT Initiatives Support Program (NIISP), which was instituted to create a systematic and sustainable enabling environment for; nurturing, promoting, and increasing the uptake of locally developed ICT innovations. The NIISP identifies and supports innovative companies that need to be scaled up and need financial and non-financial support.
A robust database of BPO companies
The council has liaised with the Uganda BPO Association to create an updated Database and registration companies operating in Uganda in the ICT sector. As such, a digital tool is being developed to aid not only local but foreign companies in this regard. Additionally, the council continually has discussions with the BPO association to align their strategies to benefit the BPO Companies operating in Uganda.
Branding Uganda as a BPO destination and Africa’s innovation powerhouse
A branding identity-Uganda as Africa’s Innovation Powerhouse was developed and launched on 15th March 2022 at the National ICT innovation hub. This will go a long way in showcasing Uganda’s potential as a BPO outsourcing and innovations destination to attract buyers and partners to Uganda. In line with the above, five BPO practitioners and Innovators were vetted by the council and participated during the Dubai-expo 2020 innovation week from 21st March to 27th March 2022.
The vetted companies secured interest from business partners and institutions from different countries for partnerships.
Also, the council, with its partners, including the ICT Innovations Hub, is engaging in Training programs for Technology and technology-enabled businesses.
Apart from employment, the BPO and Innovations industry has many other benefits, including the increased Inflow of foreign currency, export promotion, and skilling of the workforce.
Also, a class of confident and empowered local professionals and entrepreneurs will continue to grow, driving the BPO sector and the entire economy forward. The BPO and Innovations council plans to facilitate this process to fruition.
