The current cost pressure, increasing market volatility, and globally connected value chains are forcing companies to further professionalise their support functions.
While the adverse effects of the pandemic seem to be fading, as well as corresponding impacts on companies and their global business service (GBS) organisations, experts argue that it will likely trigger substantial changes in how GBS organisations will operate in the future.
The observation was raised during the Rwanda Global Business Services Investor Conference which kicked off on Tuesday, February 21, in Kigali.
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The conference, organised by Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in partnership with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, GIZ Rwanda (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), and Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, aims at discussing the growth of Rwanda’s GBS sector and the opportunities for investment in the country.
Key government stakeholders, GBS private sector employers, development partners, and new potential GBS investors are present at the conference.
Also present is a diverse set of employers already operating in Rwanda including TEK Experts, CCI, Deriv, Objectivity, Amalitech, Zatec, and Code of Africa
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Rwanda’s GBS industry has recently experienced significant growth, thanks in large part to the growing youth talent in the country, officials said.
The skilled talent, paired with a range of incentives by the government for investors to establish and operate their businesses in the Global Business Services sector smoothly and successfully, has created an ideal location for expansion for GBS companies.
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"Rwanda offers an ideal location for a GBS company to open its business, with committed support from the government to grow the sector and a strong track record of success and growth from the first GBS companies to open in Rwanda, providing a range of services from customer support to software development,” said Pacific Tuyishime, acting Chief Investment Officer at RDB.
"We’re looking forward to meeting with new interested GBS investors and supporting them to bring their business to Rwanda,” he added.
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Global Business Services (GBS) is a business service delivery model that entails shared services, outsourcing, and centres of excellence to serve multiple business units. The scope can include finance, IT, human resources, procurement, as well as other functions, and can be delivered on or offshore.
At the conference, discussions also focused on the experience and success current GBS companies have had in Rwanda, to, among other things, provide a forum for potential investors to learn more about Rwanda’s offering in the sector, and explore opportunities for investment.
The conference comes at a time when Rwanda is quickly becoming a preferred Global Business Services destination, through a young workforce with bi-lingual talent offerings ready to support service delivery far and wide, Tuyishime reiterated.
"We have incentives in place for investments. We have an incredible success story in the GBS sector, we are a fast-growing, low-risk, business-friendly, and modern economy ready to support you. We are working with several partners like Harambee to identify, train and match talent for Global Business Services employers. We hope that a lot of the work we have done is enough for you to invest in our country.”
The strong ecosystem of training partners in Rwanda ensures a growing talent pool of young people with the skills and work behaviours in demand in the industry.
This according to TEK Experts, a world-class technology centre currently operating in Rwanda, boosts investor confidence.
"You don’t need to worry about the infrastructure. You only need to invest in the talent pool. If we don’t work with the right skill it will die out,” Gary Bennet, the firm’s country director said.
In 2021, the firm announced plans to recruit over 1,000 Rwandan technical support engineers and management staff, just after a year after entering the local market.
Martin Kraft, Country Director of GIZ Rwanda, said, "Rwanda has demonstrated strong efforts to position the country as an emerging destination for the GBS sector, which has seen impressive growth over the past years.”
For instance, Kraft pointed out that since 2021, 14 new companies have invested in the sector, creating over 500 new jobs.
"This brings the total workforce in the GBS sector to over 1,000, with many more job openings in the coming months and years. This is truly remarkable,” he asserted.
According to RDB, the availability of world-class office space, quick business registration, high-speed internet connectivity, and consistent economic growth are key elements attracting investment into the country and enabling investors to set up operations conveniently.
Today, Rwanda is ranked the 2nd easiest place to do business in Africa and 38th globally.
"Rwanda’s bilingual workforce supports our service delivery. For several months we’ve been operating, we have experienced quality service delivery and that itself motivates us to create thousands of jobs for more young people by 2025,” pledged Victor Sen, CCI Rwanda’s Managing Director.
Sen shared similar sentiments with Kasthuri Soni, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator’s Chief Executive Officer.
"It is wonderful to see so many people getting involved in the Global Business Services sector. Collaboration is key to reaching where we want the sector to be and creating opportunities for the young people,” Soni said.