I found this story quite by accident in the business section of The Times (UK). And what a little 'diamond in the rough' it is. A fascinating tale, about a new information and communications technology hub being built - with Commonwealth support - outside Entebbe, Uganda. The zone is being designed to harness Uganda's well-educated and ambitious graduates, much in the same way as the (apparently now too expensive) Indian call centres have done. Despite the fact that the Indian experience suggests such development pathways can be both brutish and short, I feel that - if it comes off - the Ugandan project may be longer lasting. At some point, the 'flat world' rush to the bottom on salaries has to generate diminishing returns and, for now at least, Uganda seems to promise both affordable labour costs and high standards of education (a rare combination). This may be a winning ticket.
But I find this story hopeful on a range of other levels. For one, it suggests a meaningful contribution by the Commonwealth - bringing that most anachronistic of institutions into the 21st century. Uganda has secured international interest with the recent CHOGM meeting, and this project is financed by the Commonwealth Business Council. Second, it is the stated ambition of several low-income countries in Africa and elsewhere to achieve middle-income country status within the next decade or so. In a rapidly evolving global economy, with the right investments in the right places - and perhaps Entebbe is one - this might just be possible...
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Day Forty-Seven: Uganda prepares for graduation
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
I've just realised why it's hard to comment on some of these stories!
Something like this is undoubtedly good, and it's wonderful to see business directed development taking place somewhere like Uganda - a country which has had more than its fair share of hardship over the decades. The trouble is that comments, by their nature, tend to be critical, or they must at least qualify the original posting. With so many of these good news stories it's hard to do anything other than nod in complete agreement - silently.
Could the reason there is so little good news in the mainstream press (and the rationale for this excellent blog!) be conversational conventions which demand dialectic discussions?
It’s great that Uganda has the resources – human and technological – to take on a major IT/ communications project. In the call centre business, India has always had the advantage of having a massive educated workforce and labour costs which are a fraction of those in the USA or UK. Apparently, Ugandan IT graduates earn about half the salary of those in the USA or UK, so it may be difficult to undercut Indian call centre costs.
However (sorry, Diana, there's always a however)I’m a bit ambivalent about the trend to outsource operations to countries that are prepared to undercut each other to get the work. It smacks of sweatshop exploitation. On top of this, it is an awful job – companies report whole workforce turnover annually – and there is a great deal of customer dissatisfaction.
So, it’s a major achievement that the country Adi Amin ruined has achieved so much, but I think young educated Ugandans deserve more than answering the phone to irritated customers in Sussex whose toaster or vacuum cleaner doesn’t work.
Yes, I agree with you, Diana. People like a good argument. Indeed, I do try and post things with a connection to a broader theme that can be debated/contested, and I often include things that have some element of controversy (the axe carrying 'pink gang' for example) but you are right that there isn't that much to argue about in most good news stories. My readers seem pretty good at finding any scope that is there though, and that's great!
I think the mainstream media plays to a core set of human emotions and/or behavioural tendencies, on the whole. Chief among these:
- outrage
- fear
- voyeurism
- pride (and patriotism specifically)
- schadenfreude (the most distasteful of all, I think, but very prevalent - look at the treatment of certain celebrities or politicians. Don't we just love to knock them off their pedestals?)
Can you think of others?
The thing is, in many societies the public seem to lap this up. And so much of the journalism that panders to these behavioural tendencies is poorly researched and intellectually 'lazy'. We have to demand better. I think the media underestimates the public, fundamentally, and this leads to a downward spiral in the quality of public debate.
Having said all that, I have already had a lot of interest in this blog - including your own, for which thank you! People I know who have read it say they really needed it and that it does genuinely brighten their day - which is good, since that was the intention. And the readership is growing even without the involvement of media moguls or advertising links etc... I hope that continues!! ;-)
I think this is a debate that WILL continue. So I'll stop there for now. But I suppose the key message is: there is demand for good news, even if it stimulates less debate, and one can only hope the mainstream media will respond to this over time.
Oops, I was writing my comment whilst Harry was finishing his evidently! Harry is very good at finding the aforementioned 'scope' for debate! Thanks, Harry.
I don't think the Ugandan project is aimed just at call centres, to be fair to it. It seems more ambitious than that, at least with respect to its long run vision. Those with the greatest optimism are thinking 'Bangalore' or 'Silicon Valley'... so, yes, service industry but also potentially innovation? If so, this offers a bit more for the graduate mind to play with.
I also think we should be careful about dissing these kinds of service industry jobs. Often they are preferable to the alternatives - working as a security guard in Iraq was one alternative cited by the article in the Times, and in India there are many graduate rickshaw drivers... And call centre jobs tend to be stepping stones to more demanding and better paid service industry roles, either at home or abroad. Finally, the kind of infrastructure required to support a development of the type envisioned for 'Kakungulu Satellite City' will create many jobs for non-graduates too.
Plenty to argue about then, as it happens (including whether a water-guzzling golf course is a really necessary addition to the plan)! But on balance, I think it's welcome even with the caveats.
Post a Comment