Government Creates 45,000 Jobs By 2011

Haruna Iddrisu

Government is expected to harness the economic potential of Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) to create 45,000 jobs to reduce the unemployment situation in the country by 2011.

This was disclosed by , Minister of Communication in a speech read on his behalf by  Alhassan Umar, Director of ITES Secretariat at a dinner organized by Rakes Company Limited (RCL) in Accra on Saturday.

RCL is a private company that outsources business operations to third party companies and organizations to manage within a designated period of time.

The company currently manages nearly 150 staff of MTN, the multinational telecommunication service provider.

Mr Iddrisu said the growth of ITES would rake in additional $750 million by 2010 in the form of revenue, with a multiplier effect on the economy, which would lead to higher investments, increase the number of jobs and improvement in the quality of life.

According to him, government had tasked the Secretariat to assist in the development of a strong and vibrant private sector in the Information Technology (IT) industry to enable Ghana attain its socio-economic agenda.

“As part of government strategy, several programmes are being implemented under the e-Ghana project to make the country the preferred destination of ITES-Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) Companies on the continent,” he said.

Robert Sam, Managing Director of RCL, said the contributions made by the telecommunication industry to the development agenda of the country could not be overemphasized.

“The responsibility rests upon us to explore innovative ways of harnessing the economic potential of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) to improve the socio-economic development of the country,” he said.

Mr. Sam called on institutions and other stakeholders to take advantage of outsourcing facilities offered by RCL, stressing that it saves time and money.

“Outsourcing allows companies to concentrate on their core business instead of getting distracted by additional matters,” he said.

He appealed to government to give special incentives such as “tax holidays,” explaining that it should subsidize the energy sector and other production inputs in order to reduce cost and encourage wealth creation and even distribution in the country.

From Business Desk