The service outsourcing sector as driver of development: the expectations of Ghana's ICT for Accelerated Development programme

The service outsourcing sector is often regarded as a driver for economic growth of developing countries. The success story of India in acquiring foreign investments and building local firm capacity has led that many developing countries seek to develop an ICT-driven development agenda. Ghana actively pursues such an agenda with its ICT4AD programme that aims at developing a knowledge economy. This paper concentrates on the Ghanaian efforts to attract foreign outsourcing firms and develop local firm capacity. While the ambitions are pointed towards servicing Western markets, it is rather the domestic and regional market that attracts foreign investors to invest in the Ghanaian outsourcing sector. Second, the paper identifies the symbolic significance of the sector. The service outsourcing sector is often used as a representation of a modernising Ghana and, despite its small size, provides a good illustration of the current optimism on Africa's development potential.