Invest in African human resources
Africa is a young continent. Its population is expected to double until 2050. For the time being, the unemployment rate is quite important and young talents are trying to leave their country, hoping to find more work opportunities abroad. Here are a few reasons why you need to invest in African human resources.
First of all, Africa has a population of about 700 million inhabitants. The continent is already working with powerful economies such as United Arab Emirates and Middle-east countries. Today, thanks to digital innovation, Africa has the potential to part of the business growth of overseas companies.
Based on the Economic World Forum’s Africa competitiveness report, Mauritius is the most competitive African country. Ivory Coast comes 11th, Kenya is ranked 13th, Cameroon 19 and Nigeria 22nd.
Investing in African human resources is an asset for your company. It is more than just outsourcing as it leads the company to grow up with its own team, even though the professionals are not based in the same country. Moreover, many African talents who used to live abroad (diaspora) are back to Africa after a few years spent in American, European or Middle East countries for work purposes. They are now ready to share their skills and experience and contribute to the success of both overseas companies and the younger citizens in their countries. Finally, high-quality education is accessible to many students nowadays and the latter do not hesitate to learn by themselves thanks to various contents available online for free.
These talents still can handle international projects, use sophisticated tools, and are still available to work on projects with overseas companies. Being in their birth country also makes them more productive as professionals, whatever their origins, are more efficient when working in an environment they are used to.
Finally, investing in African human resources can save time and money for recruitment and office costs. It is like working with an independent entrepreneur who works from home and does not occupy the office at all (internet, electricity, desk, etc.). Talenteum, startup based in Mauritius island is betting in investing into Human capital in Africa, they found their IA expert in Nigeria and they brought him in Mauritius to lead a Mauritian Team, this team works remotely for a French client based out of Paris. They help mainly European companies to find their talent in Africa, they source, they give them the right framework and a seat in a incubator or co-working space.
Nevertheless, investing in African human resources needs to be well thought for the project to be successful. Indeed, it is a serious investment and does not consist in outsourcing some departments and tasks to a company that takes care of every single point of the plan. That is why I advise you to ask for professional help to define your needs, your goals and identify who are the professionals you should work with to continue the growth of your business.
Nicolas Goldstein — Co-founder of Talenteum , We build remote team from Africa for Europe and the World.
