Africa is the region of the world with the highest vulnerable employment rate, which in some parts of the continent can reach up to 77 percent. The lack of employment opportunities for Africa’s poor and vulnerable is a substantial obstacle to the development of the continent. The Rockefeller Foundation’s Poverty Reduction through Information and Digital Employment (PRIDE) work aims to harness the global outsourcing sector’s innovative employment and efficient service delivery models, and substantially improved Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in Africa to create jobs for people at the base of the pyramid who would otherwise not have the opportunity for sustainable employment.
PRIDE is aimed at creating sustainable employment opportunities for people at the base of the pyramid by fostering a critical new arm of the outsourcing industry called Impact Sourcing (IS). IS employs individuals from the base of the pyramid as principal workers in business process outsourcing centers. These centers will provide high-quality, information-based services to domestic and international public- and private-sector clients. Employing people from the base of the pyramid in thesecenters will provide them with sustainable income which can lead to positive social outcomes, helping to improve their livelihoods and the livelihoods of their families. The employment opportunities are also likely to create demand for education and training, thus enhancing the productive outcomes of investment in those areas as well.
In 2011, the Rockefeller Foundation plans to support the development and testing of IS business models, support research on key interventions and continue to build the network of key IS stakeholders to advance the field. This working paper produced by Monitor Group is an important analysis of the IS opportunity that should inform participants in this sector, as well as potential partners seeking to support it.
The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to support this ongoing work and partner with the extraordinary organizations that continue to drive important innovations in this field. We hope that we can build momentum for IS as a new chapter in our hundred year history of helping to build innovative solutions to increase the well-being of people throughout the world.