IT Services Youth Ghana

Do you have a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Ghana that offers Information Technology (IT) services or other digital services? Are you interested in an improved European Union (EU) market presence, and attracting more EU-based clients? Do you want to work on your HR practices to attract and maintain talented young IT specialists? Do you want to contribute to an improved ecosystem for SMEs? And do you want to help put Ghana on the international ITO and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) map? The Netherlands Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) can help you. CBI's IT Ghana project offers your company good opportunities:

•    Discover opportunities for your company in European markets;
•    Learn more about European requirements and legislation;
•    Learn everything you need to know to be a successful exporter;
•    Get assistance from our sector experts to strengthen your organisation's capacity to serve global clients;
•    Develop your company's international exposure.

Project details

This project is now in its starting phase, the so-called inception phase. At this moment, CBI focuses on getting to know and understand the Ghanaian IT & BPO sector. In the future, the goal is to help the SMEs in this sector connect to the growing outsourcing and IT services sector in Europe. This project has a special focus on youth and developing youth employment opportunities.

CBI aims to support Ghana's IT sector with opportunities in innovative technologies, specialised IT services and business domain knowledge by:

• Boosting the involvement and education of talented young people in the IT sector;
• Creating new supporting services and strengthening existing services that benefit the entire sector and are accessible for SMEs; 
• Creating resilience. We do this by supporting effective organisation, coordination and collaboration between sector stakeholders. Resilience will help stakeholders to improve their support and service delivery;
• Facilitating effective market linkage, enabling Ghanaian IT companies to export their services more efficiently.

This will strengthen the IT sector in Ghana and help it become stable, sustainable and inclusive.
 

What can you expect from this CBI project?

In this project, CBI offers technical assistance through practical business export coaching. CBI prepares your company for European market entry by helping you with the skills and knowledge needed. The project includes:

• Individual company coaching by highly qualified international experts focused on attracting and maintaining young IT specialists with the skills to serve European clients;
• Support in creating your company's export marketing plan;
• Development of your company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) roadmap;
• Guidance in carrying out the export marketing plan and the first commercial activities.
   

Who can apply?

This project is for Ghanaian companies in the IT services and IT outsourcing sectors. 

You can apply for the inception phase of this project if your company meets these requirements:

• Type of company: 
  • SME with at least 10 but no more than 250 full-time employees;
  • At least 51% locally owned and with a local management structure;
  • Offers ICT-related products and services, and wants to enter the European markets or is already exporting.
• No joint venture with an organisation based in a non-developing country;
• No licensing commitments that prohibit or limit exports to the EU; 
• The management can communicate in English.

During the inception phase, CBI will select a limited number of SMEs to investigate before final selection. In the next project phase, the implementation phase, a new application round will take place, and more SMEs can participate.
 

What do we expect from you?

CBI is looking for ambitious and highly motivated SMEs that are frontrunners in the IT sector, and that have a management team that is:

• Pro-active and flexible;
• Fully committed to the activities and external coaching throughout the project; 
• Willing to share challenges and find solutions;
• Willing to set up internship programmes to contribute to workforce development, diversity and inclusion, and youth empowerment;
• Committed to skills capacity building, training and coaching;
• Willing to invest in improving CSR practices in their company; 
• Willing to take part with dedicated and qualified people during all CBI visits, workshops and training sessions. Please note that all activities will be in English;
• Willing to invest time into their export marketing plan;
• Committed to investing in the necessary changes to become successful in the European market and increase sustainability. Changes can apply to the organisational structure, methods, technologies and operational infrastructure;
• Willing to provide CBI and its partners with their company's name, logo and achievements for the promotion of the project;
• Willing to inform CBI about the company's progress in export and sustainability. CBI will treat the provided information as confidential;
• Ambitious and motivated to take the next step with their company. 
   

Costs

You do not have to pay a fee to take part in this project. CBI will finance most project costs. Participants must pay for the following costs, if applicable:

• Flights and other travel expenses for European market entry activities;
• Investment in product offers, employees, certification, and so on;
• Domestic travel expenses if training sessions are outside your city.
   

Interested?

The deadline for completing the application form was 14 November 2023. 

For more questions or more information, please contact us at services@cbi.eu

We will contact you before 12 December 2023 if we select your company for the next phase in the application process.