Summary:
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Training African business owners on navigating the intricacies of global marketing and international sales is a crucial component of the NTF V program of the International Trade Center’s work.
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The eight-month Export Marketing Plan training for 18 IT and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) companies to market their services globally was completed in October under the Netherlands Trust Fund v. Ghana Tech initiative.
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Ernest Amartey Otu, Senior Manager, Marketing & Sales at e.Services Africa Ltd. (eSAL), who also participated in the training, noted that the fact that these government agency enablers attended the meetings indicated that they were now aware that firms similar to ours exist in Ghana.eSAL is a 24-hour business process outsourcing company that works with local and international clients in the banking, telecommunications, healthcare, utilities, and aviation sectors, as well as in the sales and marketing of fast-moving consumer goods.eSAL is striving to attract more foreign customers. Still, it faces competition from well-known companies in the Philippines and India, as well as in Africa, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, and Rwanda.
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Otu is conscious that the entry of global corporations like Amazon and Google could result in the theft of many top technologists, depriving local businesses of skilled labour.
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Attigah concurred that training like those offered by NTF V is crucial for tech companies that must provide services at par with international standards to survive and expand.
Exporting to overseas markets can help African IT companies make more money, avoid slow times during the year, and become more competitive. The tricky part is determining how to complete the process successfully.
An essential part of the International Trade Center’s NTF V program is teaching African business owners how to deal with global marketing and international sales challenges.
Under the Netherlands Trust Fund v. Ghana Tech initiative, 18 IT and business processing outsourcing (BPO) companies spent eight months learning how to use an export marketing plan to market their services worldwide. This training ended in October.
Hatua Tech Ltd.’s founder and CEO, Nehemiah Yelu Attigah, said, “We will use the training to improve our growth plan and marketing strategy for 2023 and beyond.” Attigah says that the UK, the Netherlands, and Nigeria are the main markets, and Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Kenya, and Rwanda are the secondary markets.
Hatua Tech is a Ghanaian company that specializes in business process outsourcing. It helps companies in the manufacturing and service industries streamline their operations, digitize them, and manage them well. According to Attigah, his business has made a lot of effort to show its value proposition to prospective customers.
The training was led by an expert in the field, Fred Janssen, and two local trainers, Paulina Adjei and Emmanuel Kpogo. The training included full-day workshops, company visits, and online coaching sessions.
Attigah praised the facilitators and coaches for being “brutally honest” in their criticism. “It was a novel strategy. People don’t like having their thoughts imposed on them, he observed.
The EMP shows businesses how to look at their strengths and weaknesses and decide which overseas markets they can enter. Participants were handed handbooks on export marketing to guide them through the program and help them create their own customer service offerings and export strategies.
Attigah stated, “This was not a box-ticking exercise; this was hands-on; you were expected to deliver.” He added that his company has changed how it approaches markets in terms of its products and marketing strategies.
Businesses were asked to meet with Joyce Owusu-Kwarteng from the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, David Gowu from the Institute of ITC Professionals Ghana, and other important ITC partners.
Ernest Amartey Otu, Senior Manager of Marketing and Sales at e.Services Africa Ltd. (eSAL), also took part in the training. He said that the fact that these government agency enablers attended the meetings showed that they now know that companies like ours exist in Ghana.
eSAL is a 24-hour business process outsourcing company that works with local and international clients in the banking, telecommunications, healthcare, utilities, and aviation sectors, as well as in the sales and marketing of fast-moving consumer goods.
eSAL strives to attract more foreign customers, but it faces competition from well-known companies in the Philippines and India, as well as in Africa, including Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, and Rwanda.
“The rivalry is tough and has strong financial backing.” “We are a little business trying to make it through those waters,” Otu remarked. The marketing mix strategy, which looks at product, place, price, promotion, and—most importantly—planet, had a big impact on how we described our value proposition in our 5-year plan.
Otu knows that when big companies like Amazon and Google move in, they could steal many of the best tech workers, leaving local businesses without skilled workers. But he says it would be better for these bigger businesses to work with smaller local companies.
Despite being certain that his business was already headed in the correct direction, Otu claimed that the ITC training helped eSAL more effectively package its products.
After carefully reviewing our SWOT analysis, Otu says we know we have what it takes to break into the European market, especially the United Kingdom.
Attigah agreed that the training programs offered by NTF V are essential for tech companies that need to provide services that meet international standards to stay in business and grow.
Attigah said that this will help many African and Ghanaian businesses become more global and improve the quality of their services. “This is something we are supporting and should be repeated in the years to come,” she said.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the International Trade Center.
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Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
