Nigeria has been ranked sixth among the top 20 global outsourcing destinations, according to the 2026 Ataraxis Global Outsourcing Talent Index report.

Nigeria’s sixth ranking was hinged on strong English proficiency, competitive labour costs, and high talent availability.

The report builds on earlier research, such as the Kearney Global Services Location Index, which evaluates 193 countries across labour cost, English proficiency, talent availability, and digital infrastructure.

While South Africa ranks first in Africa, Nigeria ranked ahead of several European economies in outsourcing competitiveness, placing both countries in the top 3.11 per cent of all 193 evaluated destinations.

Seven African countries made the global top 25 outsourcing destinations.

They include South Africa (five) and Nigeria (six), followed by Kenya (11), Egypt (15), Ghana (17), Ethiopia (23), and Uganda (24).

“This means African countries account for 28 per cent of the world’s top 25 outsourcing destinations.

“Nine African countries rank above the United Kingdom in outsourcing competitiveness,” the report stated.

Both Nigeria and Egypt ranked higher than India and Pakistan in labour cost competitiveness, challenging long-held assumptions about the cheapest outsourcing destinations.

The report, therefore, revealed that “Africa is no longer an emerging market story, it is a present-day competitive reality.”

It also noted that the global business process outsourcing market size, estimated at $328.37 billion in 2025, is projected to reach $695.77 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 9.9 per cent from 2026 to 2033.

Similarly, the report found that less than 50 per cent of the organisations leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of their outsourced services are seeing productivity and throughput gain.

“Only about 25 per cent of those surveyed are seeing reductions in vendor services cost or improvement in service quality,” it added.

The report further noted that the surge in remote work and global workforce flexibility is also reshaping outsourcing dynamics, contributing significantly to the expansion of the outsourcing services industry.