According to The Economist, Outsourcing Is Booming in Africa. Why Is Zimbabwe Still Overlooked?
On a train to London this week, sweating through the heatwave, I read a compelling article in the Economist titled “Call centres could be a gold mine for Africa.” It's about the future of Africa’s outsourcing industry.
Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana were all profiled, praised and positioned as the next big BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) frontiers.
I'm all in my feelings because Zimbabwe wasn’t even mentioned once 😩.
Which I thought was totally wild. Because we are awesome.
Okay, I am a) a Zimbabwean and b) a founder of a BPO in Harare ( go go askChenai !!) so I'm going to be a tiny bit biased, but still.
Zimbabwe has always punched above its weight, we just don't make enough noise about it. We’re everywhere. We deliver, outperform even, but we don’t seem to make the headlines.
When I was an associate at McKinsey I did a back of the fag packet calculation*: based on our population, Zimbabweans were likely the most overrepresented nationality in the partnership. You see the same thing in boardrooms, VC, academia, and tech. (*I can not confirm that it's accurate... like... at all.)
However, that silence, when it comes to Zimbabwe’s potential in professional services is not acceptable. This isn't just about economic development. It's about global inclusion. If the world is building the next service economy - we need to be in the room. Zimbabwe should not just be part of the conversation, we should be leading it.
📰 What The Economist Got Right is that Africa is emerging as the next frontier, and fast - the data is compelling
The Economist makes the case that outsourcing, long dominated by India and the Philippines, is undergoing a global shift.
BPO in Africa is growing at 14% annually, nearly twice the global average.
Kenya alone is growing at 19% per year.
Governments are taking it seriously: South Africa is offering grants; Nigeria has launched “Outsource to Nigeria”; Kenya’s new national strategy is aiming for 1 million jobs by 2028.
But the Game Is Changing - it’s not just about call centers and data entry, but higher end work. Low-end outsourcing - cheap, repetitive work - is already being automated . But higher-end, human-first services still require context, nuance, empathy, and trust.
In other words: the opportunity isn’t in racing to the bottom. It’s in building for the top.That’s where Zimbabwe could lead.
💡 Zimbabwe Could Lead - Because We’re Already Built for It
Let’s be clear: Zimbabwe isn’t behind because we lack talent. If you’ve ever worked with Zimbabwean professionals, you already know: we’re different.
We’re highly educated. Zimbabwe produces some of the most capable graduates on the continent. You’ll find Zimbabweans in top universities, top firms, and top roles all over the world, often outperforming expectations with humility and grit.
We speak English that actually works in global business. Our accents are clear, neutral, and easy to understand, especially for UK, US, and European clients. But it’s more than pronunciation. Our tone is emotionally intelligent. We write and speak with tact, clarity, and professionalism, not scripts.
We don’t just follow instructions - we think. As the a client recently said: “Our problem with outsourcing to [Selected Region] is people follow instructions even when they’re clearly wrong.” That’s not us. We'll apply logic, ask the right questions, and make intelligent decisions on the ground. We’re not copy-paste workers, we’re thinkers!
We show up. Through power cuts, patchy WiFi, political chaos, you name it, Zimbabweans still deliver. That level of resilience, resourcefulness, and reliability is exactly what global companies need, but rarely know how to find.
This isn’t a dream. This is the reality on the ground—and it’s why Zimbabwe has the potential to lead not just in BPO, but in the next generation of global service delivery.
💼 That’s Why I Started askChenai
At askChenai we’re building the BPO the world forgot to notice.
We train and match absolutely brilliant Zimbabwean virtual assistants with busy executives, startups, SMEs, and global teams - people who need operational muscle without the overhead. But we’re not doing low-end, faceless outsourcing. We’re working with forward thinking global companies and individuals doing:
✅Executive support for busy and neurodivergent founders
✅Inbox management and intelligent scheduling
✅Project management, coordination and research
✅Social media and marketing assistance
✅Customer service with emotional intelligence
✅Life admin and ageing parent support with empathy and reliability
✅Trusted partnerships that feel human
✨ If You’re a Founder, Operator, or Leader...
And you’re tired of juggling too much. And you’re sceptical about offshore support that feels…off. And you want to build with people who get it—
Start here. Start with Zimbabwe. Start with askChenai.
👉 www.askchenai.com Because your next great team member might be in Harare.