Business outsourcing experts have called on African countries to implement ‘impact sourcing’ as a way to help improve society on the continent.

The likes of East Africa is fast growing into a business outsourcing hub after the likes of India and the Philippines which hold the biggest global market.

And speaking at the just-concluded Aitec East Africa Summit in Nairobi, Jeremiah Okello -- who is a consultant from Collins Consulting International -- encouraged adoption of a model of outsourcing to help create more jobs in Africa.

“Impact sourcing employs the youth or disadvantaged in the society, to carry out outsourcing jobs, in turn improving their standards of living,” he said.

Okello said that Africa has an advantage over its competitors in India and Philippines on impact sourcing because the effects of it could be greater here.

“The vulnerability of the target population can attract companies to employ impact sourcing,” he said.

Okello said that because of technological advancement and the level of education, the region could become a hub for business process outsourcing.

An example of a company using outsourcing to create jobs in Africa is Digital Divide Data.

The organisation is said to have employed hundreds of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds by using a model that trains the youth on outsourcing skills, employs them and pays for their university studies.

In May this year, Rockefeller Foundation also launched the digital jobs initiative in six African countries: Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.

The initiative is planned to impact on one million people in the selected countries.

Wairimu Kagondo, an associate at Rockefeller Foundation Africa, said that for the model to fully work, companies need to maintain a quality business approach.

“Companies will not just buy into the idea because it is impact sourcing,” she said. S

She added that impact sourcing jobs need not be looked at as a community social responsibility initiative but as a viable business model.

Kagondu concluded that companies looking to business outsourcing can look locally for solutions to grow the sector in Africa.