(The Monitor (Uganda) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) In what is termed business outsourcing, Ugandans have started pocketing millions of shillings by simply sitting behind computers and answering phone calls from prospective clients.

In January, the ministry of Education entered in partnership with Global Management Consortium-Trade Information Network (GMC-TIN), a Canadian learning corporation, to provide low cost and affordable training in ICT, professional development and call centre management. The programme dubbed EasyLearning has so far trained over 600 Ugandans.

Also, early this year, Busoga kingdom entered in partnership with InterGlobal services, a Canadian teleservices company, to set up a 150-seater call centre in Jinja. It is estimated that the call centre will employ 450 operators earning a monthly salary of about $1,000 (about Shs1.8m).

Call centres have become the norm in customer service delivery. "With a call centre, customers can be served without being physically present at customersservice centres," said Wilbrod Owor, the Head of Customer Service Dfcu bank.

MTN Public Relations Officer Tina Byaruhanga said: "Call centres have greatly improved customer management." Govt parastatals such as the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Uganda Revenue Authority, among others, also have full-fledged call centres for effective customer service delivery.

While Ugandan businesses use call centres mainly for customer care, countries like India and Philippines have excelled in using call centres to outsource services to the developed world at a relatively cheaper cost.

Offshore outsourcing, where one company hands over part of its work to another company, under strict guidelines regarding requirements and specifications, is regarded as one of the fastest growing industry in the world.

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, the global outsourcing market reached $234b in 2005, up from $119b in 2000 and is estimated to reach $310b by 2008.

Analysts predict that Africa will even be more successful in this rather untapped area once the practice takes firm root in the region because Africans have impressive English compared to their Asian counterparts. Countries like Morocco and Tunisia are so far key targets for French companies.

According to the PwC survey, Information Technology ranks highest among outsourced services with 43 per cent, followed by financial services at 17 percent, communication (Telecom) at 16 percent, and consumer goods and services at 15 per cent.

At 59 per cent, the US has the highest market share followed by Europe at 27 per cent. Nearly 75 percent of the US and European multinational companies use outsourcing to support their financial and customer care services; 72 per cent of European multinational companies have outsourced services over the past two years.

Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)