Outsourcing to Nigeria: The next leading outsourcing provider

The increasing demand for quality and unique services in the global market made businesses rely on outsourcing companies to provide ease and develop operations.

Outsourcing is now one of the most powerful tools in business today. It helps leaders manage proper time and focus, maximize resources, and assist employees in performing tedious tasks. It drives organizations to uphold more profits and increase success rates.

These practices of delegating tasks are becoming more dynamic in different countries, including Nigeria. The emergence of its outsourcing sector led experts to see it as the next leading outsourcing provider in the global market.

Outsourcing sector in Nigeria 

Nigeria is home to a young English-speaking society. Nigerians are known for being hardworking and providing high-value and quality services. The country has established outsourcing opportunities that captured other countries’ attention.

According to TheGuardian, Nigeria recorded over $285.8 million in its joint African domestic and international Global Business Services (GBS) in 2021. The country’s outsourcing sector is expected to grow continuously at around $19.8 billion in 2023.

This industry has become more progressive, from its well-handled ICT sector to other key service areas, including:

• Telemarketing
• Software engineering
• Content writing
• Data analysis
• Graphic designing

The establishment of the Association of Outsourcing Practitioners of Nigeria (AOPN) and the Outsourcing Development Initiative of Nigeria (ODIN) are a result of  the impact of outsourcing on the country’s economic development.

Top 5 outsourcing services in Nigeria

As mentioned, outsourcing in the country carries out other services that are useful and relevant to the needs of businesses globally, not just call center services.

Nigeria’s large population serves as one of its competitive advantages. It allows the country to shape the potential of the outsourcing sector with professionals of different competencies and skills. 

Here is the list of the top outsourcing services offered in Nigeria:

Information Technology (IT)

It helps businesses hire experts and develop IT-enabled business processes, software applications, and infrastructure solutions for successful operations. Adapting to the advancement of technology will ensure a higher productivity rate. 

Human Resources (HR)

The Human Resources (HR) management of the organization collaborates with the help of a third-party company. It brings more focus and attention to growth-related initiatives through task delegation.

Services may vary from basic HR support services to complex, which sometimes require partnerships with Professional Employer Organizations (PEO). It helps execute innovative planning and day-to-day administrative support services.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

BPO is one of the most commonly used techniques in outsourcing. The process involves subcontracting to a third-party company to carry out some parts of business-related operations and technical tasks.

BPO is also referred to as “offshore outsourcing” since third-party companies or subcontractors can be in a different country, mostly in customer support services.

Administrative services

Like any other outsourcing service today, administrative outsourcing requires transferring business processes to an external service provider.

The difference can be identified in the services offered. Unlike in HR outsourcing, most services in this technique usually include the following:

• Records management
• Data encoding 
• Accounting and auditing
• Secretarial services
• Payroll and bookkeeping

Marketing services 

Outsourcing marketing functions is an effective way to ensure a higher growth rate and customer engagement. The process involves contracting a company’s marketing tasks to a third-party agency. 

Usually, these agencies provide specialized tools and hire marketing experts to ensure its development through effective marketing strategies. Here are some of the services to avail of this technique:

• Search engine optimization (SEO) 
• Web design
• Content marketing 
• Conceptualization of marketing campaign
• Telemarketing

Why is outsourcing in Nigeria beneficial?

Aside from the Philippines and India, the country’s booming outsourcing sector paved the way for Nigeria to be considered the next leading outsourcing destination in the world.

The country has built relationships with many countries because of the positive outcomes and benefits they get from acquiring outsourcing services. It transforms many business processes and operations.

Here are some of the main factors that make outsourcing to Nigeria beneficial:

1. Better talent allocation

Like any other outsourcing destination, Nigeria is home to professional experts that acquire different skills and knowledge in various fields of specialization.

It is by the fact that the country’s population is young and has a high percentage of Nigerians who can speak English. 

2. Cost reduction and better resource utilization

In all types of businesses, cost-effective solutions are vital in maximizing the use of resources. In many countries, outsourcing talents is much cheaper than hiring office-based employees. 

Other countries, including Nigeria, offer lower pay scales in outsourcing compared to the global market but still manage to ensure quality and excellent service outcomes. 

3. Productivity and quality outcomes

Aside from cost-effective practices, outsourcing helps businesses provide quality outcomes and drives more productivity to their daily operations.

The delegation of work deliverables helps balance the performance of office-based employees by sharing tedious and repetitive tasks with offshore talents around the globe.

Nigeria as the next outsourcing leader

Other core service areas, including marketing, customer service, content writing, and software development, made virtual workers from Nigeria one of the most trusted talents in the world. It is because of hard work and exceptional services performed by its people.

The booming BPO industry in the country, both for inbound and outbound services, also helps generate exponential economic development. It unveils the potential of Nigeria as the next leading outsourcing provider in the world.