Meet Our Operations Manager – Ruth Ishimadoo Orkar

Operations Manager Ruth Ishimadoo Orkar talks about her experience at Outsource Global. In this inspiring interview, she delivers how much of an impact she and her team at Outsource Global have made. About Ruth My experience at Outsource Global has been a great one so far. I have so much fun, I always want to go to work with my colleagues. All I wanted to do was a good job. But while I started as a regular customer service representative in October 2016, by 2017 I had been promoted to 3 leadership positions, from a team lead to supervisor to my current position as an operations manager. As all these promotions happened in one year, it taught me that hard work pays off. I was promoted quickly because I took on the company like it was my own. I went out of my way to make sure everything was done. I have been able to use the story of my growth during orientation to encourage and motivate new employees. I always tell them that nothing is impossible; they should work hard and put in their best every opportunity they have. I also love what I do. I started as an agent, I have always enjoyed going to work. I have so much fun I want to go to work with my colleagues. You learn so much on the job, so much about the company. It isn’t about selling a certain product— but we are helping people and changing lives on a daily basis. I would want to say I am a people person. I studied sociology, and what really drives me is the need to empower others. Growing up, I always wanted to be a youth counsellor. I worked with a lot of troubled adolescents who came from broken homes, and I just realized that they needed love. They needed someone to love them. From there, I just said, ‘OK how can I make a difference? How can I change in my little way?’ Now, I get to empower employees daily, no matter how small the task or activity may be. The important thing is how to make people better than they were yesterday. Every task that I carry out is related to the productivity or performance of the people and how best we can help them as a team achieve their goals. Outsource has become a home to me. The organization has made my stay comfortable and allowed me to be myself. Because we share the same beliefs and values, and from that, I know that this is the right place for me. It has been a great ride so far. I highly value the support system, from the coaching to the feedback, to the development sessions. I value not just my direct supervisors and bosses to whom I report, but also people in other departments who have still supported me when I had challenges, or when I felt low. The company has helped me grow and ultimately has made me a better version of myself. When I came to Outsource, I was a shy person who did not like public speaking. Outsource challenged me to overcome my fears by promoting me to a leadership position where I had no choice but to win. I can proudly say I am a bold, confident and more outspoken person and there is no longer ‘can’t do it in my dictionary. How do you hope your team perceives you, and why is that important to you? I would describe my leadership style as democratic, as I want my direct reports to be carried along in decision-making because most times they will be executing or implementing the actions. This is also to empower them so they can start making some of their own decisions for the team. I came up through the ranks; I know what it feels like to be in each position, so I try to picture myself in their shoes, and this helps me better communicate with the team. What are you most proud of accomplishing in your position? Well, it’s really hard to manage people, so I look at being a successful manager as an accomplishment. I’ve been in this current operations manager role for about three years and it’s been one of the most difficult things. What I’ve noticed is that a lot of people will want that promotion, but they don’t want to do the work. Trying to get to do the necessary work has been really challenging for me because I don’t  want to be that type of leader where I’m like ‘Just Do It ‘ and expect  it to get done. I really have one of the best teams, but when I’m looking at all of the supervisors and all of the people that report to me, I realize it was a lot of hard work. You’re dealing with different people, with different backgrounds, and you have to get them to be able to effectively do their jobs. So, I manage people to be able to manage other people, to manage other people, to get the front-liners to do what they’re doing. What do you see for yourself at OTGL over the next five years? and where do you see the company? In the next 5 years, I see myself as the Chief Operations Officer, COO. In addition to that, I plan to start up an NGO to reach out to less privileged women and youth by creating job opportunities for them. At the rate Outsource is going, in the next 5 years, I see us being more internationally recognized for having a diverse portfolio of clients. I see us employing over 6000 staff in different locations across Nigeria. The company is doing well so far, and we can achieve our goal of being the number 1 outsourcing destination in Africa. What’s the best advice you can give to someone who just started at Outsource? I would say the same thing I tell those

Amal Hassan Wins inaugural International Women’s Day Award 2022

Founder/CEO Outsource Global, Amal Hassan won the inaugural International Women’s Day Award 2022 at the #IWDNaija Gala in Lagos. Amal, who was nominated in the Private Sector category, was selected alongside Managing Director Procter & Gambles, Mokutima Ajileye, and Guinness Nigeria Breweries Company. She was recognized for her outstanding contributions in championing women’s political and socio-economic empowerment in the Nigerian Private Sector. The Awards Gala was organized by the British High Commission, the European Union Delegations and the Embassies of France, Germany, and the United States of America in partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). These awards recognized achievements by women and institutions across political leadership and governance categories, Private Sector, Arts and Culture, Media and Entertainment, Civil Society, and many more. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day celebration is “Break the Bias” and it encourages political decision-makers to ensure adequate space is created for women in politics and to advance women’s socio-economic empowerment. Women deserve to be celebrated for their extraordinary contributions to society, remarkable triumphs, and unmatched fearlessness. Women aim to promote gender equality in leadership, increase women’s economic resilience, and drive inclusion in peace and security in Nigeria. Amal Hassan was described as a champion who has empowered numerous women and youths through employment and the promotion of gender equality in Nigeria. The Inaugural International Women’s Day Awards Gala 2022 is an event that celebrates and recognizes champions in promoting women’s leadership and gender equality in Nigeria while inspiring accelerated action in fulfilling this goal. Outsource Global, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company was birthed by Amal’s vision to provide job opportunities to women and improve their welfare with over 50% inclusion in the workplace. This has become a reality as her company employs over 1000 people with a greater percentage of women.

AMAL HASSAN PARTICIPATES IN NEXIM BANK LAUNCH OF EXPORT FACILITY IN KEBBI

Amal Hassan participated in the Women and Youth Export Development Facility launch (WAYEF) by the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM at the Banquet Hall, Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State. The Managing Director of NEXIM, Abba Bello gave reasons why Kebbi became the first state where WAYEF was launched after the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. He added that the decision to launch the scheme in Kebbi was due to the strong enthusiasm shown by youths in the state. According to Bello, the United Nations Population projection for Nigeria in 2020 indicated that about 62 percent of Nigerians are below 25 years, while over 50 percent belong to the female gender and as such, this segment of the population cannot be ignored. Also, the Governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu gave a virtual address at the event where he expressed that the target beneficiaries of WAYEF launched by NEXIM demonstrate remarkable success towards achieving targeted objectives of the scheme. The Managing Director of NEXIM, Mallam Abba Bello enumerated the numerous facilities, services and programmes offered by the bank, including the newly introduced Women and Youth Export Facility, WAYEF launched on Thursday in Kebbi State, as the pioneer state for the scheme. CEO/Founder Outsource Global, Amal Hassan among others participated in the panel session which was moderated by Mr. Olutayo Omidiji, Head Strategic Planning, NEXIM Bank. She explained that companies in USA, the UK and Europe outsource a segment of their business to countries with cheap labour as this is done in order to reduce costs and increase revenue. Amal shared her story with everybody at the event, explaining how she started her first business with an IT Training center in Kano but found out after two years that a majority of those trained were still out of jobs. As a result, she researched the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry and discovered that it provided about 2.2 million jobs for Indians at that time. According to Amal, Nigeria has the capacity to maximize the opportunities provided by the BPO industry with an abundant talent pool, good time-zone, excellent skillset and good English accent we possess over India. In her words; ‘’It took me eight years to start the company, and I started it four times and failed… we finally went live in June 2016 and today our company provides different services for companies in US, UK, and Japan’’. With over a thousand employees, Outsource Global provides telemarketing, legal service, customer service, software development services to its diverse clients in the world. Speaking at the event, the Executive Director, Business Development of the Bank, Stella Okotete urged the women and youths to embrace the facility provided to improve their lots noting that the Federal Government is determined to continuing the empowerment programmes.

Toast to an Invincible People

It is a testament to the resilience of the Nigerian Spirit and an innate grace to defy all the odds, a young lady from Kano State, Amal Hassan established Outsource Global, which is the first International Contact Centre and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Company in Nigeria, employing more than 850 people. Today, she has made Nigeria a global outsourcing destination. Each time they tell you that Nigerian youths are all fraudsters, tell them about Amal Hassan. Originally published by ThisDay

DEFYING THE ODDS OF SUCCESS-AMAL HASSAN

Amal Hassan shared her story with Dr. Soliman in a new episode of the Professional’s Lounge on Youtube shows. Amal who participated in the interview is the CEO of Outsource Global, Africa’s largest BPO Company. The Professional’s Lounge is a YouTube Podcast that focuses on discussing with professionals, entrepreneurs and experts in different fields. Dr Soliman is a Physician/Scientist, certified Career Transition and Life Coach and a host on Youtube shows. He is Youtube channels features a variety of shows with over three thousand subscribers. The Host of the show really expressed his excitement about Amal’s story mentioning how she had to survive in the harsh business environment and also the challenges she faced as a mother and entrepreneur whose company failed four times. However, defying the overwhelming odds her company grew from a startup to becoming the largest BPO Company in Africa. In Amal words, “people have to believe in themselves…change your mindset from it can’t be done to it can be done…” She also mentioned the strong faith she had regarding changing the lives of numerous unemployed Nigerian graduates, changing lives one step at a time. She attributed the support she received from her husband and family as key factors that propelled her to keep pushing despite the setbacks she encountered. Amal also added that looking inwards and having faith in your business idea will lead to success. She shared insights about the business process outsourcing sector and how Outsource Global Company has to compete with successful BPO companies by providing top quality service according to international standards, cutting costs and achieving clients’ goals with the best employees from around the world. Outsource Global as business BPO Company has grown within four years of operation from providing telemarketing and customer services to legal, accounting, software development as a service, respectively. They have been able to impact the growth of their partners and clients by over 25%. Amal has successful built an Outsourcing company that can compete with other top companies in the world with various redundancies from more than three fibre-optics providing strong internet service, top-notch power system with high-quality inverters, generators and many more. According to industry statistics, the market size of the Business Process Outsourcing Service industry in the US is about $54.8bn in 2021. The global business process outsourcing market size was valued at USD232.32 billion in 2020 and is expected to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5% from 2021 to 2028. This provides a unique opportunity for Africa, and specifically Outsource Global in achieving its goal to make Nigeria an outsourcing destination of the world. You can watch the show here.

Celebrating 50 Inspiring Nigerian Women

Amal Hassan, CEO/Founder Outsource Global was named one of 50 Inspiring Nigerian Women by BusinessDay Nigeria among other women such as the current Direct-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngonzi Okonjo Iweala. Kemi Ajimobi, Associate Editor Business Day Newspaper, put together this list as part of the celebration for the international women’s month in the Women’s Hub Magazine. She believes their stories would inspire women in every way. We congratulate Amal on this esteemed recognition. To see the full list: https://lnkd.in/eWC3HRW #Choosetochallenge

Leading Ladies Podcast with Marianne Rutz

Amal Hassan shared her experiences with Marianne Rutz on the first Interview session of the Leading Ladies series by The Operational Excellence Show Podcast. Marianne talked about the stereotype of Nigeria in the news and how it affected her perception. She also expressed her surprise about finding out about Contact Centres in Nigeria. She posted on her LinkedIn page; “…when I met Amal Hassan, Founder and CEO as #oursourceglobal I was intrigued, to say the least…Our conversation about her journey, her Why in business, her drive and her experience is amazing! Ok — I’m bias — I accept this — but I say it anyway!” Amal spoke extensively about the challenges she faced before establishing Outsource Global Technologies and one of her motivation is to change and impact lives. 🎧 Check out the full interview: ow.ly/kWTN50D7gCn# #contactcentre #customerexperience #leadingladies

El-Rufai inaugurates the Kaduna Investment agency, with Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II as Vice Chairman

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has officially inaugurated the Board of Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA), on Thursday 4th of March 2021. The Governor has charged the agency to amplify its effort in making Kaduna State the topmost investment destination in Nigeria, by improving its Ease of Doing Business ranking. Speaking at the inauguration the Governor welcomed all the Board Members and sent out a special welcome to the Emir of Kano & former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi II to the board as Vice-Chairman, he thanked him for accepting to serve the people of Kaduna State. The Governor highlighted the importance of KADIPA, and how its success has increased investment in the state, helping since 2015 to attract over $2.1bn in actual and pledged investments. Governor El-Rufai also mentioned that Kaduna State will not only be competing with other states in Nigeria but will also compete against all emerging markets, so he urged the agency to put in maximum effort to drive business to Kaduna State. In 2018, the World Bank had rated Kaduna state as the best sub-national in its Ease of Doing Business ranking and in 2020, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) also ranked the state as the first in the quantum of foreign direct investment attracted within the first six months of the year. Also speaking, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, promised to contribute his best to uplifting KADIPA. As a renowned economist, he has given assurance to give necessary input to the overall policy of Kaduna State. Amal Hassan the Founder and CEO of Outsource Global thanked the Governor and KADIPA for being selected as a key board member. She has promised to dedicate her time and effort towards achieving the goals set out by the Agency. Amal is big on changing the Nigerian Narrative, she believes Nigerian biggest asset is its people, so much so that Outsource Global has been able to create over 1000 jobs since its inception, serving the Africa, US, UK and Japan markets. As a Business Process Outsourcing Company (BPO) Outsource Global has capitalized on the skillset of the Nigerian people, with the country producing more than a million graduates yearly. Outsource Global has single-handedly put Nigeria on the Map as the next Premier Outsourcing destination.

WOMEN IN BUSINESS: AMAL HASSAN

Amal Hassan is a leading Nigerian technopreneur with diverse interests across different technology verticals in 2003. Amal set up the first organized ICT training institute in Kano that provides IT training to young Nigerians especially women. Her passion to unlock Nigeria’s developmental potential through technology-driven innovation and value addition led her to build, capitalize and restructure a series of technology-related businesses that succeed in developing talents and creating employment for young Nigerians. In 2013, she founded the Outsource Global, a contact centre business process outsourcing that now has offices in Abuja, Lagos, and Kaduna. Under her leadership, Outsource Global has emerged as the leading Nigerian contact centre provider, servicing the international market, turning the company into a truly global BPO giant, creating over 700 jobs and putting Nigeria on the global map for contact centre business process outsourcing. They have deep vertical expertise and unique understanding of the industry’s specific needs. They are known to put their clients at the heart of everything they do and deliver robust customer support solutions that span every segment of the customer value chain. As Africa’s leading global contact centre and business/knowledge process outsourcing provider, they are successfully making Africa and International KPO/BPO destination. They are the first IAOP compliant commercial call centre in West Africa, and the first Nigerian international call centre serving the UK and US markets. Hassan’s entrepreneurial prowess and business acumen continue to set her apart as a highly regarded business leader in Nigeria. Over the years, she has participated in local and international business missions and attended various professional and leadership courses, conferences and seminars both locally and abroad. Widely regarded as a role model for the girl-child and women especially in northern Nigeria, she has continued to mentor young leaders across her industry. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administrations from Bayero University Kano, Nigeria and a Master degree in Business Administration from the same university. Amal is a partner in Bluetag, the holding company for Parkway Projects, HealthStation, Bluetag Technologies, Bluetag Synergy and Outsource Global. Amal is also an Alumna of Fortune-US Department of State Global Women Mentoring Programme, which links young female leaders to Fortune’s most powerful women. By Kemi Ajumobi Culled from https://businessday.ng/women-hub/article/women-in-business-amal-hassan/

OUTSOURCE GLOBAL CEO /FOUNDER, AMAL HASSAN, JOINS PANEL AT THE VIRTUAL LUNCH OF THE NIGERIA COUNTRY PRIVATE SECTOR DIAGNOSTIC

Nigeria, Africa’s largest market, is rich in natural and human resources. Yet, the country faces challenges which have hindered it from leveraging opportunities to achieve sustained economic growth and shared prosperity for its people. Our CEO and Founder, Amal Hassan joined other panellists, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, FirstBank Nigeria; Kola Masha, Founder/Managing Director, Babban Gona; and Obi Ozor, co- Founder/CEO, Kobo360 to discuss the theme ‘Looking beyond COVID-19: Opportunities on the Horizon, Leadership in Focus.’ at the virtual launch of the Nigeria Country Private Sector Diagnostic. The opening remark was made by the Honorable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, and IFC’s VP for Economics and Private Sector Development, Hans Peter Lankes while the panel was moderated by Eme Essien Lore, Country Manager for the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Nigeria. The panellists addressed a series of questions about Nigeria’s private sector, including how their organizations responded to the COVID situation, challenges holding back Nigeria’s private sector, challenges deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as leadership challenges during the pandemic. As competition becomes more intense in the global space, investors or partners tend to depend more on a country’s reputation than on its actual attributes in making business and investment decisions. Amal noted that Outsource Global has proven to her international clients and partners, she can deliver even during the global pandemic. “We launched financial operations, Artificial Intelligence (AI), among other processes which were not in place pre-COVID era and constantly exceeded our clients’ expectations. Amal said, Outsource Global success during COVID-19 pandemic has given her reassurances that Nigeria is the leading Outsourcing destination.” Responding to the question about leadership challenges she faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Amal noted employees safety, implementing a remote work structure to keep serving her local and international clients, and building trust and efficiency were the challenges faced during the period. She also highlighted the need to increase Nigeria’s market share in the business and knowledge process outsourcing space. Eme Essien Lore, IFC Country Manager for Nigeria, said, “Nigeria’s private sector is among the largest in Africa and plays a critical role in providing goods, services, and quality jobs to the country’s growing population. Addressing the challenges holding back Nigeria’s private sector — challenges deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic — will be critical to the country’s goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030. Through the CPSD, IFC, and the World Bank have identifiedpolicy actions and interventions that can help unlock investment and jobs.” Kelvin Njirai, Regional Director Southern Africa & Nigeria, IFC surmised by identifying four key points from the conversation with the Panelists, they include; Agility, collaboration, Learning and branding as pertinent factors in launching the Nigerian Country Private Sector Diagnostic. IFC and the World Bank have also published a COVID-19 Rapid Assessment alongside the Nigeria CPSD. The rapid assessment provides insights for stakeholders on accelerating Nigeria’s recovery from the impact of the pandemic.

OUTSOURCE GLOBAL CEO AND FOUNDER SET TO ATTEND VC-BOOTCAMP, SILICON VALLEY

Outsource Global CEO/Founder, Amal Hassan is set to attend the 2020 VC-Bootcamp scheduled to hold next week at the Silicon Valley. Themed “Bridging African and American Innovation Ecosystems,” Amal Hassan will focus on how Outsource Global helps organizations achieve efficient and lean growth whilst reducing operational cost and time. This year’s boot camp will be attended by Stanford LEAD participants and alumni, along with the brightest minds from promising tech start-ups. It also boasts of a well-planned program featuring a pitch competition with Outsource CEO/Founder, Amal Hassan, as one of the judges and a perfect environment for networking opportunities. Passionate about unlocking Nigeria’s developmental potentials through technology-driven innovation and value addition, Amal has built, capitalized and restructured a series of technology-related businesses that have succeeded in developing talents and creating employment for young Nigerians. About VC Bootcamp The VC-BootCamp helps leaders and executives turn good ideas into great businesses. This LEADers-centric event is hosted at Stanford GSB every year in March. What Will Happen During The VC Boot Camp? Meet and greet with influential executive LEADers. Understand Africa’s various innovation ecosystems. How governments and investors can build bridges between American and African ecosystems. What are the favourable African Markets? The impact of AI and FinTech on Africa innovation. Customer acquisition in Africa: how to? The role of large African corporations in attracting foreign investment on the continent. Find Amal Hassan: Twitter: @Amal_Outsource LinkedIn: Amal Hassan Outsource Global: www.outsourceglobal.com

HUMANS OF OUTSOURCE GLOBAL

What Happened When The Team Came Together at Sunshine Park There is something truly magical about having fun challenges and some bonding activities with team members outside of the office. At Outsource Global, aside from embracing the individual factors that make every employee unique, we believe team bonding activities create a more inclusive environment. “The strength of the team is each member. The strength of each member is the team.” — Phil Jackson From teams formulating and chanting their war cry to synergy talk, Human scavenger hunt, landmines, spaghetti and marshmallow tower, the visit to Sunshine Park seemed a fitting day to have fun as a team. Here is the day in photos from the thrills and activities at the Leadership culture-building event: What’s next? We remain committed to building a collaborative work environment to help our employees thrive, learn and grow through targeted learning and development programs.

International Women’s Day 2019: CELEBRATING WOMEN AT OUTSOURCE GLOBAL

Today is International Women’s Day and we are pleased to celebrate it with all of the amazing women in the world. We know so much more needs to be done to ensure women can be fairly represented at work, and we are dedicated to doing everything we can to build a gender-balanced workforce. At Outsource Global, we promote the principles of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion across our workforce valuing different perspectives, depth of experience and the strength and potential of individual teams. Gender equality is more than a ‘nice to have’ Time and time again, we hear that companies must do more to address this gap, and find concrete ways to welcome these ‘missing’ women. But it’s not just about making the figures look good to the outside world, ensuring a balanced male and female workforce can bring a financial boost to companies — studies have found that for every 10 percent increase in gender equity, there is a 1–2% increase in revenue. How are we bettering our own balance? At Outsource Global, we recognize the importance of gender equality and employ males and females in all roles. Women constitute 60 percent of our workforce and are represented in top management roles. That’s why we are supporting International Women’s Day and this year’s campaign theme, #BalanceForBetter. To make this happen, everyone has a part to play — all the time, everywhere. We’re proud to showcase our amazing women who create new and inspiring possibilities every day. We are Outsource Global, and every day is International Women’s Day! Regards, Amal Hassan, CEO Outsource Global. #InternationalWomensDay2019 #IWD2019 #BalanceforBetter

Outsource Global engages world leaders at the UN General Assembly on ways to expand employment opportunities for African Youth

The Chief Executive Officer of Outsource Global, Amal Hassan, recently met with world leaders at the just concluded United Nations General Assembly to present bold new ideas for job creation for African youth. Amal, a leading Nigerian technopreneur, who is passionate about fostering economic development through creating growth-enabled career paths for knowledgeable African youths through Global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), recently discussed with world leaders on ‘How to deliver a new approach that raises ambition and meets the scale and complexity of the challenge’. She shared practical knowledge and innovative ways of solving the unemployment challenges in Africa. Amal’s presentation, made at a workshop, during the 2018 UNGA, co-hosted by Theresa May (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada), had other world leaders and international actors such as Shinzo Abe (Prime Minister of Japan), Uhuru Kenyatta (President of the Republic of Kenya), Paul Kagame (President of the Republic of Rwanda), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (President of Ghana). Others include: Antonio Guterres (Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Amina J. Mohammed (Deputy Secretary-General of the UN), Bill Gates (co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Kristalina Georgieva (CEO of the World Bank), in attendance among many others. Her presentation brought to the fore, practical approaches to dealing with the African dilemma: “Job creation for youths is a major problem in most developing countries. Between now and 2035, Africans will have to create 18 million new jobs every year to keep pace with the rapidly growing population. The reason is not far-fetched from the fact that, the problem of unemployment is more complex in Africa than other parts of the world” As a promoter of youth empowerment, she illustrated how she has created employment opportunities for over 700 youths, and women in particular across major cities in Nigeria within 1-year using the instrumentality of global business process outsourcing, adding: “We are partnering with global investors and leaders to increase access to economic opportunities, create lasting jobs that will reduce the rate of unemployed youths in Nigeria, and bring about sustainable development growth across Africa.” Her presentation which met with a standing ovation has since generated much interest, commitment and focus around ameliorating the African unemployment issue leveraging BPO. This is now generating interest in partnering with Outsource Global in delivering private sector-led initiatives that can meet the scale of the challenge while creating truly win-win Economic relations between African and 1st world Nations. With this in view, it can be safely stated that African youth stand to benefit from these new ideas around employment and career growth potentials within the BPO sector. It however remains to be seen how readily the African Governments transmute some of the ideas espoused into policy frameworks that support the employment, economic exchanges and investment opportunities discussed.

MAKING NIGERIA A PREMIER OUTSOURCING DESTINATION: A CHAT WITH AMAL HASSAN, CEO OF OUTSOURCE GLOBAL

Interviewed by: Chukwuemeka Agbata (ChannelsTV TechTrends) Interviewer: What is Business process outsourcing (BPO)? Amal Hassan: Business process outsourcing (BPO) involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business process to a third-party service provider. Companies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia outsource their customer service to mostly third-world countries for a cheaper rate. So, America international clients have been outsourcing to India since 1980. Interviewer: The Indian outsourcing sector is reported to worth over $150 billion. How can Nigeria take part in this market share? Amal Hassan: Nigeria has all the requirements to take part in this market share. Nigeria has English as its official language, we have good accents, with excellent technology, manpower, better timeline, talented and educated citizens. This puts Nigeria in a better position than India to Serve the International Market. Interviewer: So what has prevented us from taking over India in the outsourcing space? Amal Hassan: Lack of initiative, high capital involved in setting up business process outsourcing, and lack of awareness, Just to mention a few. Interviewer: The outsourcing business relies so much on technology. Do you have a computer science degree? Amal Hassan: No, I don’t. I studied Business Administration at Bayero University, Kano. You don’t need to have a degree in computer science to get into Information Technology (IT) business. All you need do is employ people with the Information Technology skills needed for the business. Interviewer: Looking at your background, why did you decide to go into this industry? Amal Hassan: In 2005, we started with an Information Technology training centre in Kano where we had trained a lot of IT professionals. We started researching what we could do to provide employment for the youths and women we have trained whilst I was dealing with a lot of Indians at that time. I looked at India and researched on what they did. I found out Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provided over 2.2million jobs and it kept increasing by 15 percent every year. From my research, I discovered we have all the requirements needed to set up a business process outsourcing firm in Nigeria hence, I worked towards establishing my company. Interviewer: As a woman in technology from the Northern part of the country, what challenges have you faced? Amal Hassan: The most common challenge I face is balancing family and work- to make sure the both don’t suffer. Also, I found out people do not take women seriously. It is very hard for me as a woman to sell what I do. For instance, prior to my establishment of the company, I met a lot of people for investment and they didn’t believe a company in Nigeria can service the international market. Another challenge is the environment. It is very difficult to do business in Nigeria as we all know. But for the passion I have to change the country, I am ready to succumb the challenges by providing employment for youths and women in the country. At Outsource Global, more than 50 percent of over 700 employees are women and 90 percent of the team leads are women. Interviewer: What do you think we can do to encourage more girls in technology and what would you say to leaders/government? Amal Hassan: By creating more awareness of the need for technology in Nigeria. We need to introduce technology to our primary schools’ system. I was not exposed to technology at a very young age. I got married at a very young age and had my 4 children in Kano. I went to the university as a married woman. It was after marriage my husband encouraged me to learn basic computing skills. In the North, we can introduce more schools, create more awareness so they can even learn IT while conserving its norms and traditions. If the Northern leaders can invest more in training youth and women in Information Technology, we will have more of “Amal Hassan” today. Interviewer: Finally Amal, as you work towards making Nigeria the premier outsourcing destination. Where do you see your company in the next 5 years? Amal Hassan: I see Outsource Global providing employment for over 6000 people. We have already opened 3 centres with a plan to opening the fourth one in North East very soon. I will keep on increasing centres based on my client needs. The current clients we have affords us the opportunity to expand our centres for now till next year. We have a stable plan to execute this so you can imagine when we have new clients, they keep expanding because we render better services and efficient delivery. Watch full interview: — https://youtu.be/1D8yPmnneJs

Staff development is the key to achieving organizational goal

Beyond business and knowledge process outsourcing, staff training and development gives us a competitive edge. According to David Ogilvy, training should not be confined to trainees. It should be a continuous process and should include the entire professional staff of the agency. The more our people learn, the more useful they can be to our clients. Every organization has goals to achieve and they make effort to accomplish these goals effectively. A common goal that we find in most service-based companies is the provision of an effective on-the-job training to up-skill the staff. The best approach to meet the training goal is to establish a direct connection between business goals and training. Outsource Global is well on its way to making Nigeria the premier outsourcing destination –empowering women and youth for a better tomorrow. We believe that staff development is very important and offer our staff substantial training opportunities to develop on the job. At Outsource Global, employee training is fun and effective. Here are a few testimonials from our staff training: The training was educative. We got to learn new things about the job and how to improve in some areas. It was quite an interesting session and I enjoyed every aspect of it.Mary Anwana, Legal Associates Supervisor The Attorneys from US got the learning message across by breaking everything down into simplified sections. The experience was enlightening!Keran Danjan, Legal Associate Working with these professionals was fun and highly interactive. It was an amazing experience which has put us on the path to becoming better legal associates.Emma-Obi Gozie, Legal Associate

AMAL HASSAN NAMED AMONG EMERGING LEADERS BY FORTUNE

According to USAID, “When women do better, countries do better, communities do better, and families do better.” This is why Amal Hassan, a Nigerian technopreneur and Chief Executive Officer of Outsource Global was one of 16 women business leaders who made it to the 2018 Fortune-US Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership. The Fortune-US Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership is a public-private partnership between Fortune Most Powerful Women, the U.S. Department of State and Vital Voices Global Partnership. This year’s mentoring partnership featured emerging-leader mentees from 13 countries. These include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Palestinian Territories, Kenya, Macedonia, Mongolia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Vietnam. The programme also had in attendance over 300 alumnae who have worked with mentors from America’s most prestigious companies, such as Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, IBM, and Accenture. Amal Hassan and other mentees engaged in skills training, panel discussions, networking events, and mentorships with executives from the Fortune Most Powerful Women community. During her mentorship with Shelly Diamond, the Chief Client officer of Young and Rubicom (Y&R), Amal focused on developing critical leadership, professional and business skills. Y&R, Wunderman, VML, Sparkplug companies and WPP fellows also offered their time, helping her with brand building, social media strategies, channel planning, web strategy and personal leadership skills. In addition to meeting with practice leads throughout the company, a core team held a strategic planning session to help Amal articulate her unique vision and mission. Amal Hassan has earned an unprecedented amount of recognition over the years for her remarkable business success and commitment to promoting youth and women empowerment. Her company, Outsource Global, employs more than 1,500 women and 700 youths as call centre agents, legal practitioners and medical professionals. Having its world-class facilities in Abuja, Lagos, and Kaduna. This article appeared on BusinessDay Newspaper for 18th July, 2018 on page 36

BREAKING STEREOTYPES: THE AMAL HASSAN STORY

Amal Hassan wanted to be a medical doctor so she applied to the university to study medicine. However, the university admitted her to study business administration. She was encouraged by her mother to study the given course or end up in early marriage which was the norm in Northern Nigeria during her time. After obtaining her degree, she enrolled in a program to study basic computer skills and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineering in Lagos. Upon her return from Lagos to Kano, Amal started the first organized IT training center in Kano. Its primary objective was to enable women to acquire IT skills and broaden their job prospects. By 2005, the center had trained over 3,000 women and youths. However, the bane for youths and women trained at the center was getting employed since they had their first degree in different fields. In a bid to solve this unemployment problem, Amal started a company that provides financial software management solutions to banks thus providing employment for some of her graduates. Observing the poor record keeping in the public hospitals her family uses, she started another company that provides healthcare automation systems for public hospitals. Today her company provide services for six public hospitals. Amal Hassan took her dream a step further delving into knowledge and business process outsourcing for organizations within various sectors of the Nigerian economy led to the establishment of Outsource Global formerly known as Outsource Group in Abuja. It provides call center services to companies and organizations who want to outsource their customer care. The Abuja call center for example services the Nigerian Communications Commission among other clients. During a visit by U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Stuart Symington, Amal revealed that the call center also serves clients in the United States of America. While touring the company with the United States Ambassador, Amal said that the center in Abuja has outsourced the 170 seats it has. They plan to provide 1,000 seats by the end of 2017 including expanding to Lagos and Kaduna. This will mean employment for about 4,000 people since they will run in three shifts. Ambassador Symington was impressed with the company and what they have achieved over the years. He said it was important because it was addressing one of Nigeria’s most important issues- employment. He suggested that Amal network with other women especially those who face the cultural and gender issues she encountered. In all, Amal is an inspiring example of what women can achieve despite the obstacles. Coming from a conservative Fulani Muslim background, she has become a successful entrepreneur in her chosen field. (This article first appeared on the official blog of the United States of America Embassy Nigeria)