AI threatens Africa’s outsourcing market, report warns

Artificial intelligence threatens to shrink Africa’s labor-outsourcing market, according to a new report.

At least 40% of tasks currently performed by outsourcing agencies across Africa could be automated by 2030, the report by Caribou Digital, Genesis Analytics, and the Mastercard Foundation said. Customer experience roles, which account for nearly half of outsourcing roles, are most at risk, followed by finance and accounting tasks, the study found. Jobs held by women were most vulnerable, it noted.

Africa’s business outsourcing market is still projected to generate $35 billion by 2028 compared to about $17 billion in 2022. Maintaining that market will require immediate investment, “especially in rural infrastructure, co-working hubs, and access to laptops,” Charlene Migwe-Kagume, a director at Caribou, told Semafor. She said funding in those areas was needed “so that young people and women can get a fair shot at these jobs.”