CLIENT:
Centre for the Promotion of Imports (CBI)
Question:
Can you facilitate a Future Search for the IT outsourcing sector in Senegal?
Process:
Results:
- An activated ecosystem
- Broadly shared ambitions
- Concrete collective action plans for strengthening the sector
How can we ensure strong middle and top management in IT outsourcing in Senegal – with a special focus on upward mobility for women – so that small and medium enterprises can grow sustainably and inclusively?
This was the central question for a two-days Future Search in Senegal. In early November, more than 50 stakeholders gathered at the Palm Beach Resort in Saly, Senegal. SME entrepreneurs, HR professionals, women’s organizations, support professionals from the public and private sectors, financiers, and education professionals—all with a vested interest in the healthy growth of this sector.
Participants preparing for the future scenarios presentations.
Shared ambitions and action plans
Over two and a half intensive days, participants explored their shared past and current trends influencing this issue. In stakeholder groups, they reflected on what they are already doing (prouds) and what they are not yet doing (sorries) in response to these trends. They then envisioned their ideal future scenarios for the sector. From these, common ground was distilled—what everyone wants for the future. On the final day, shared ambitions and concrete action plans were developed based on these insights.
“What I take away from this is the incredible potential and positive energy generated over these three days. We are united in the same sector, and now it is time to turn this energy into swift, targeted action.”
Process facilitation
Perspectivity facilitated the process—from assembling a steering group with local stakeholders, refining the central question, and identifying key players in the ecosystem, to guiding the two-and-a-half-day Future Search and delivering the final report.
Participants in dialogue and working together.
Local ownership
The initiator of this Future Search is the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), part of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CBI contributes to the economic development of developing countries and emerging markets by stimulating and supporting exports to the European Union.
One of CBI’s nine key focus areas is local ownership. The Future Search methodology is particularly suited to activating the local ecosystem by bringing “the whole system”—a diverse range of stakeholders with an interest in and influence on the issue—into one room to find shared interests. The emphasis on self-management, from the preparation phase onward, helps participants take ownership of both the process and the outcomes.
Preview pages of the final report.
More information?
- Final report (French/English)
- Questions: Petra de Boer and Elien Rogaar
- Read more about Future Search