Forbes Magazine
The offshoring sector grew phenomenally in the early 2000s as large multinationals flooded emerging markets to outsource customer relations and other parts of their service supply chains. India was usually the preferred destination. But as competition increased in India, companies started to look at other alternatives. Africa (and North Africa in particular for French-speaking companies), quickly became a key offshoring destination, thanks largely to cost competitiveness and time-zone compatibility with Europe.
With the global economic crisis, however, these multinationals have been feeling the pressure from their home countries to “reshore” services. Convincing companies to stay in African countries like Egypt, South Africa or Morocco has become increasingly difficult as once-expensive countries, such as Eastern European countries – Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania or Romania, for example – have grown more attractive in terms of costs.
This has sparked a move away from a complacent cost advantage to an active reach for added value.
And this is where Moroccan businessman Karim Bernoussi steps in.
Karim Bernoussi
Karim Bernoussi is the CEO of Intelcia Group, Morocco’s largest Offshoring Company. Intelcia, which Bernoussi founded in 2000, has succeeded remarkably in retaining current clients and attracting new ones despite a difficult economic climate.
Bernoussi realized that the offshoring sector in Morocco and the rest of Africa could not survive merely on cost advantage.
“We knew we would have to produce real added value for our clients’ supply chain,” Bernoussi says during a recent interview at his offices in Casablanca. “We’ve achieved this by offering an array of tailor-made solutions. Additionally, complex projects with higher added value are more rewarding and motivating for our team – consequently, we provide our clients more benefits and positive impact on their business.”
In addition to diversifying its services, Intelcia has looked to remain ahead of the curve by taking an ambitious leap and becoming the first Moroccan company to acquire a listed French company, The MarketinGroup, in 2011. “Continuous investment in our growth is a key aspect of our strategy to offer added value beyond cost competitiveness. Expansion was a logical step that has afforded us the flexibility and proximity to better meet our clients’ onshore and nearshore needs,” adds Mr Bernoussi.
Intelcia’s operations in France and Morocco largely support French-based clients. Morocco, specifically, has positioned itself as an ideal platform for the French-speaking offshoring market, boasting the top employment market in Africa in that regard. The sector, including ITO, BPO and customer relations, already employs over 46,000 people and is strongly backed by the government. Intelcia is the brightest star in this industry and is currently operating from 8 offices in France and Morocco and offers comprehensive, tailor-made onshore, nearshore and offshore solutions. The group is specialized in new disciplines and B2B services, mail orders, telemarketing, customer relations, surveys, tech support and insourcing while emphasizing commitment and operational excellence.
But Mr Bernoussi’s ambitions aren’t limited to the French-speaking market, where his company is now ranked in the Top 10 worldwide. In the coming years, Intelcia hopes to expand to Sub-Saharan Africa to complement its French services, and to other parts of the world to develop other languages. “English and Spanish are key languages in the worldwide sector, and solidifying these within our portfolio will help us be more competitive and flexible and to serve various divisions of a same client,” he notes.
Expanding is one way to grow in competitiveness. But while others in the sector may be tempted to slash costs, Mr Bernoussi insists that a parallel solution is rather to invest in people. “We are a people business after all”, he adds. “Our continued growth despite the crisis shows that promoting a healthy, motivating work environment translates to tangible benefits for our clients.”
Proximity to Europe, a vast pool of young talent and cost competitiveness has been the natural advantages of the African offshoring sector from the start. In addition to Morocco, it also features South Africa, the leader in African offshoring, Mauritius, home to a favourable business climate, and Ghana, which already hosts a number of outsourced IT services.
But lower wages and higher unemployment at home caused by the economic crisis are putting financial and political pressure on multinationals to insource their services. However, the service supply chain is bound to follow the trend of the manufacturing supply chain, which has by and large left developed countries.
“If it can provide added value abroad, Africa will become indispensable for multinationals to be competitive at home,” Bernoussi says.
