Evolution of Shared Services A Sub-Saharan Africa Perspective

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Evolution of shared services: Sub-Saharan Africa perspective

As shared services transitions, it offersorganisations in sub-Saharan Africa theopportunity to unlock immense value.Research reveals that sub-Saharan Africa–with its solid foundation, can build on itspast successes and position itself for growth, execution efficiency and effectiveness with shared services. This report focuses on how we can achieve this by examining the scope of shared services in sub-Saharan Africa; various operating models that enable high performance; and performance, service excellence and talent management as key differentiators to achieving high performance.

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Executive summary

Shared services organisations continue to support strategic business objectives by exploiting opportunities that improve cost effectiveness and develop service excellence. Accenture recently conducted a global survey of these organisations. The survey identified the opportunities that exist for shared services in sub-Saharan Africa, namely:

The scope of shared services in sub-Saharan AfricaCompared with their global counterparts, organisations in sub-Saharan Africa appear to have more opportunity to provide greater value-add and professional services, depending on the maturity of the organisation.

Various operating models that enable high performance Organisations are increasingly reviewing their existing sourcing models with a greater focus on leveraging the benefits of a hybrid sourcing model. i.e. in-sourcing vs. outsourcing.

Process and service excellence as a key differentiatorSub-Saharan Africa shared services should focus on further efforts to develop standardised processes, as well as their ability to report consistently and in a more automated manner on the performance of shared services organisations.

Talent as a key differentiator to achieving high performanceIt is evident in organisations around the world that the right talent is still a primary differentiator. In sub-Saharan Africa, a unique labour landscape exists, challenging organisations to provide flexible working alternatives to maintain and develop key skills.

The evolution towards Integrated Business Services For those shared services organisations that have reached stabilisation and maturity, Integrated Business Services (IBS) may be the next step in the journey. IBS partners with customers to provide complete end-to-end business solutions.

Introduction

In the 1990s, many organisations consolidated or centralised their back-office processing into a “corporate centre” to achieve efficiencies through standardised and simplified processes. The idea was to provide services in a more cost-effective manner.Shared services has become the dominant operating model for business support services, with more than 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies having implemented shared services in some form or the other.

Under pressure to continue delivering cost and service improvements, many organisations are turning to proven shared services models. A primary reason why many organisations across borders and industries prefer shared services as a support service model is because its successful implementation enables them to address the following key issues:• Simplifying and standardising complex, nonstandard processes that involve duplication of effort and increased cost

Under pressure to continue delivering cost and service improvements, more than 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented shared services.

• Consolidating and standardising disparate, nonstandard systems and infrastructure• Streamlining management time

historically spent on transactional activities, with a greater flexibility to focus on key business decisions

• Rationalising disparate reporting and limiting the many versions of the “truth”• Rightsizing the organisation to support peak demand periods

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Shared services mastery: Key attributes

The shared services operating modeldemonstrated its potential to unlockvalue for organisations around theworld, by primarily providing supportto allow companies to focus on corebusiness activities. Based on an Accenture study conducted in 2009, Achieving High Performance through Shared Services: Lessons from the Masters, some organisations have set themselves apart from their peers by demonstrating operational

excellence. By contrast, many shared services centres have not yet managed to achieve operational mastery.Less than 10 percent of the organisations surveyed globally are considered shared services masters. These masters all meet the following criteria:• View shared services as a high- performance business in its own right• Demonstrate a superior ability to target and secure their objectives

Under pressure to continue delivering cost and service improvements, more than 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented shared services.

The Accenture High Performance Business model identifies the key attributes of the leading organisations Accenture works with. Organisations that have achieved shared services mastery have built their operations on the foundational elements highlighted in Figure 1.

Five attributes of shared services masters:1. Profitability: Dramatically lower cost operating model2. Longevity: Sustainable traction not achievable through reengineering alone3. Consistency: Agreed services and measurable service predictability4. Growth: Accommodate volume changes without an equivalent increase in cost5. Positioning for the future: Continued adaptability to the changing business environment and goals

• Utilise a variety of sourcing models to achieve business resilience• Are more likely to take necessary steps to build the workforce they need• Invest in shared services best practices and technology tools.

Figure 1: Shared services high performance business model.

HighPerformance

Business

Greater than expected returns from investments

Top line revenuegrowth

Reliable and predictable performance

Continued value creation over industry eras and life cycles

Profita

bility Longevity

Growth

Cons

isten

cy

Positioning

Higher FutureValue Growth

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The evolution of shared services organisations is critical for companies to continue providing services of value and remain relevant to end users

Typical servicesAdoption of the shared services model has lagged in sub-Saharan Africa compared with other parts of the globe. In recent years, however, interest in shared services has increased and local companies seeking to explore the concept are now able to benefit from the experience of their global counterparts. In fact, while several years ago, single independent functional shared services was seen to be the starting point of the shared services journey, companies in sub-Saharan Africa are now more likely to move straight to a multifunction model, maximising benefits realisation and leveraging start-up and implementation costs.

One of the questions most frequently asked by Accenture clients relates to the scope of shared services. Typical services include finance, human resources (HR), information technology (IT) and procurement, all of which are covered in our sub-Saharan Africa shared services. A comparison between local and global companies (figure 2) indictaes that local companies lead when it comes to using shared services for logistics and material management. Compared with their global counterparts, shared services organisations in sub-Saharan Africa, however, have an opportunity to increase the scope of IT, HR and procurement.

What typical services are being delivered through Shared Services today?Figure 2: Typical scope of services.

(Multiple mention)

IT(i.e., application maintenance)

71%

27%

60%

53%

46%

27%

42%

47%

42%

40%

36%

20%

Finance

HR

Logistics/Materials Management(i.e. procurement, invenory mangement)

Client facing servicesi.e., billing, collections

ProcurementGlobal

Africa

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Atypical services

Atypical services are those that have not traditionally been seen as obvious candidates for delivery via a shared services model. In recent years, more shared services organisations have found that additional benefits can be achieved by offering different services, leveraging the shared services infrastructure and achieving economies of skill and scale.

Our research reveals some of the atypical services that are being delivered through shared services (Figure 3). Sub-Saharan Africa shared services organisations are leading the way in marketing and research. There are good examples of shared services in sub-Saharan Africa providing facilities management services. In addition, the research reveals some areas where shared

services have an opportunity to expand. Based on our experience, we believe the biggest opportunities for sub-Saharan Africa shared services lie in the areas of real estate management, master data maintenance, and environmental safety and health.

Most companies start their shared services journey by centralising traditional back-office functions such as Finance and HR. As shared services stabilises and becomes a proven concept within the organisation, the trend, both globally and locally, is to expand—more than 80 percent of the respondents indicated that their shared

services have expanded since their launch. This expansion can take the form of additional services (typical and non-typical), additional clients and markets or moving up the value chain through the addition of innovative or value-added services such as data analytics or research and development.

Our research indicates that sub-Saharan Africa shared services are slightly more aggressive in their expansion, with a majority (around 95 percent) taking on some expansion in less than three years of their launch (compared with around 85 percent globally).

Evolution and expansion of services

What atypical services are being delivered through Shared Services today?

Figure 3: Master data maintenance is one of the areas that offers opportunities for shared services organisations in sub-Saharan Africa.

(Multiple mention)

Marketing

Internal audit

TransportationConsulting services

ResearchCommunications

Master Data Maintenance

Project ManagementFacility Management

Legal

Enterprise reporting

Tax

Treasury

Real estate

Investor relationsStatutory reportingContinous Improvement (lean/Six sigma)We do not deliver any atypical services

Environmental, Safety and Health

Financial planning, budgeting and forecasting

30% 40%

13%

13%

13%

13%

7%

7%

7%

7%

7%

7%

13%

20%91% 93%

20%

33%

33%20%

27%

27%

27%

27%

26%25%

25%

25%24%

22%

20%

20%

20%

19%

18%

16%

15%14%

11%

9%

Global

Africa

Shared services is an operating model that enables more effective and efficient service delivery, whether the service is provided by the business function (insourced) or by an external organisation (outsourced). The matrix below (Figure 4) highlights the benefits associated with each model. Our research indicates that a hybrid model is preferred by most shared services organisations.

Although the management of multiple sourcing arrangements increases complexity, the hybrid model enables the best of both worlds—highly transactional

Organisations are faced with delivering better services more cost-effectively and are considering a variety of sourcing models to meet this challenge

In company, onshore

In company, offshore

Tight control and the superior customer experiences associated with a local model

Scalability and the benefits of labour sourcing, yet still with tight control

Outsourced, onshore Predictable costs, superior customer experiences

Outsourced, offshore Most predictably low costs

Sourcing model Benefits

Figure 4: Benefits associated with various sourcing models.

activities are delivered externally at the lowest cost, while more value-added or client-specific activities are retained in the internal shared services organisation.Based on the findings from our study, most companies, both globally and locally, take some time to stabilise operations before considering outsourcing. In fact, around 65 percent of the companies surveyed only made the decision to outsource after a minimum of a three-year period. This is consistent with the view that the real benefits from outsourcing will be realised only after business processes have undergone some

initial optimisation internally. The trend to outsource has not yet caught up among sub-Saharan Africa shared services companies. 33 percent of sub-Saharan Africa shared services still indicate that they have no outsourcing in place, compared with only 6 percent globally. While there are unique African circumstances that favour retaining services in house, such as skills development and relatively low local labour costs, a hybrid model as well as local or onshore outsourcing is an opportunity worth pursuing for sub-Saharan Africa shared services.

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Shared services organisations face the challenge of aligning process management with enterprise-wide improvement initiatives, especially where there is no established culture of process excellence

Process excellencePrevious research conducted by Accenture Achieving High Performance through Shared Services: Lessons from the Masters indicates that a large proportion of shared services organisations continue to struggle with the fundamentals of process excellence. In other words, they have not managed to realise the original business case benefits linked to standardised processes, policies and systems. Our study indicates that less than half of the shared services organisations in sub-Saharan Africa have managed to standardise processes, policies and systems (Figure 5). Consequently, old, inefficient, poorly-defined processes re-emerge and destabilise the shared services organisation.

Business process management as a discipline needs to be supported by clearly defined process ownership, preferably end to end. Without a robust framework governing core processes, the various functional owners may make amendments to the processes without assessing the benefit and/or impact on the broader organisation. This limits the organisation’s ability to achieve the real standardisation required to drive effective cost savings and also its ability to grow by adding new customers onto one standard process.

More than half of the sub-Saharan shared service organisations surveyed indicated that business processes are defined and implemented regionally (Figure 6). African companies generally have a more regional than global footprint and are therefore more likely to implement such process governance at a regional level.

Figure 6: 53 percent of sub-Saharan Africa shared services say their processes are defined and implemented locally.

Which of the following best describe the level of standardisation in your Shared Services?

How does your organization manage processes and services globally?

Policies, processes and supporting systems are standardised

Policies and processes are standardised but no supporting systems

Policies and standardised but no processes and supporting systems

No standardisation

Global Africa

39% 47%

25%

27%

24%

20%

12% 6%

Figure 5: Less than half of the shared services organisations in sub-Saharan Africa have managed to standardise processes, policies and systems.

Processes are defined and implemented globally

Processes are defined globally but implemented regionally(can be customised at regional level)

Processes are defined and implemented regionally

32%27%

44%

20%

24%

53%

Global Africa

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Process excellence is the quintessential competitive differentiator for getting new ideas, strategies and products to operational excellence with pace and certainty. All well and good in theory, but how does an organisation demonstrate its progress towards process excellence without the ability to measure? Process performance can be measured at a number of levels depending on the organisational structure and process ownership per business. The global trend is to measure at an organisational or functional level across the business, especially as this provides an opportunity to communicate results to key stakeholders. Organisations that do this well have managed to make this reporting and tracking as seamless as possible.In sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 7), a large percentage of organisations generate reports manually, which are subsequently manipulated in Excel spreadsheets. This is time-consuming, onerous and also exposes the organisations to control and compliance risks. Organisations that manage performance reporting well have focused on defining the correct metrics, developing reports that can

draw relevant data from key source systems and running an automated consolidation of relevant data. This is a significant opportunity for shared services organisations in sub-Saharan Africa to improve their access to data and information with reduced effort.

Service excellenceService excellence is typically dictated by the customer experience when dealing with the shared service centre. Providing the desired service and maintaining a predefined level of standardisation is not an easy equation to balance. The utilisation of standardised systems and other enabling technologies will provide a key element of this equation. But what differentiates an organisation in this regard is the implementation of a robust service management framework. This framework enables service relationships between shared services and its customers to be formalised. It also allows for service performance to be measured and improved.

Our research indicates that organisations still have a long way to go with the development of service management elements. While most organisations offer a wide array of options for the customer-support function interface (Figure 8), not all of them are effective. The trend is a move from paper-based interactions to self-service opportunities. In addition, 47 percent of shared services in sub-Saharan Africa have call scripts automated to assist with the correct allocation of queries. A surprising finding was that only 73 percent of shared services in sub-Saharan Africa have an inventory of services that are formally signed off, while 13 percent have no catalogue of services at all. These service catalogues are crucial to managing expectations regarding the scope of services, mutual responsibilities and demand.

How are performance reports generated? Please select all the different channels that can be used to request services:

Figure 7: 47% of sub-Saharan Africa respondents indicated that performance reports are generated manually.

Figure 8: Only 13% of sub-Saharan Africa shared services provides a self-service option to customers.

(Multiple mention) (Multiple mention)

Extracted from supporting systems (ERP, case management call switch, etc.)

Shared Services performance reporting database

Enterprise data warehouse

Manual / Excel

58%

33%

51%

20%

33%

20%

32%

47%

Email

Direct call made to the service delivery team

Call made to contact/call centers

Request made on portal or other web channels

Fax

Other automated self-service capabilities(ERP, Kiosks, voice response systems)

75%87%

73%80%

64%73%

57%73%

41%60%

16%

13%

Global

Africa

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Continuous improvement of services and processes is an ongoing effort that can be achieved through incremental improvement or by means of quick, impactful change. The current value proposition of shared service organisations is well understood. However, it is continuous improvement that enables this model to evolve. Without a mechanism to grow and improve, the value and viability of shared services organisations may come into question.

indicated they will dedicate more than 10 percent of their annual operating budget to continuous improvement. This further highlights the realisation that continuous improvement as a core competence within shared services organisations will drive the evolution towards Integrated Business Services.

Shared services job descriptions have defined continuous improvement responsibilities

Defined process to submit ideas and secure resources

Dedicated continuousimprovement team

Formalised lean / six sigma / Kaizen or other methodology

No formal continuous improvement proces

Continuous improvement

Our research indicates that a majority of the organisations surveyed have implemented a continuous improvement process (Figure 9). A variety of approaches have been deployed, with some organisations favouring continuous improvement as part of an individual’s role description while others implement dedicated teams to focus on improvement opportunities. A significant insight is that 40 percent of shared services in sub-Saharan Africa

Is there a formal continuous improvement process?

Figure 9: Continuous improvement processes used by shared service organisations.

(Multiple mention)

49%

40%

46%

40%

34%

19%

7%

7%

5%

47%

Global

Africa

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40 percent of shared services in sub-Saharan Africa indicated they will dedicate more than 10 percent of their annual operating budget to continuous improvement.

10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

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The “war for talent” remains a constraint to the evolution of shared services with respect to achieving high performance

The quality of the workforce has a significant impact on the success of shared services. In an earlier study, Achieving High Performance through Shared Services: Lessons from the Masters, a majority of the respondents ranked talent management as one of the most significant criteria for success. This research also indicated that the masters would be more likely to take definitive steps to build the workforce they need.

Despite ongoing cost pressures, shared services masters continue to invest in the development and upskilling of their employees. This commitment better positions the shared services organisation for improved service delivery and cost efficiency and therefore, growth and expansion. Sub-Saharan

Figure 10: Sub-Saharan Africa shared services organisations are leading with on-the-job training and formal training.

Africa shared services organisations are no exception and are as good, if not better, than their global counterparts at striving to develop a skilled and efficient workforce. As shown in Figure 10, 40 percent of the respondents in sub-Saharan Africa offer external job rotation opportunities to their employees, compared with only 27 percent globally. This mechanism provides employees the opportunity to gain a customer perspective that can significantly improve customer service in the long term. Sub-Saharan Africa shared services organisations also demonstrate a significant commitment to skills development, offering more on-the-job and formal learning opportunities for employees than their global counterparts.

What job enrichment opportunities are available for Shared Services employes?

Does your people development programme include any of

the following?(Multiple mention) (Multiple mention)

Continued training / education within shared services

Formal continuous learning curriculum

Job rotation within shared services

Self-study or instructor-led training

Outside training(with other business units or agencies)

On the job training

Job rotation across shared services and the business units or agencies

None

Formal skill-based/ proficiency-based model tied to curiculum

We do not have any people development program

72% 61%

73%

52%

47%

47%

73%

43%

43%

48%

80%

47%

40%

27%

27%

40%

1% 1%

Global

Africa

How would you best describe your approach to Knowledge management?Figure 11: Knowledge management deployed within shared services organisations.

Function specific tools used to manage knowledge assets

Common collaboration tool such as SharePoint used to manage knowledge assets

Formal process with dedicated knowledge manager but no tool available to manage knowledge assets

Loosely defined process and toolset

We do not have any knowledge management capabilities

(Single answer)

11%

7%

34%

27%

28%

27%

23%

4%

7%

33%

The area of knowledge management represents a significant opportunity for sub-Saharan Africa shared services organisations. Knowledge management facilitates collaboration and sharing of content and information, with the objective of getting people the information they need in order to perform at a higher level. Compared with their global counterparts, only a few shared services organisations in sub-Saharan Africa have formal knowledge management tools, assets and processes (Figure 11). The formalisation of these processes should be considered for shared services organisations looking to reach the next level of performance and better leverage employee knowledge and skills.

Global

Africa

40 percent of the respondents in sub-Saharan Africa offer external job rotation opportunities to their employees, compared with only 27 percent globally.

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Integrated Business Services—the next evolution for shared services organisations

“While the global economy is predicted to grow by 2–3 percent between 2011 and 2020, sub-Saharan Africa is poised to grow by 5–6 percent, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.” The Dynamic African Consumer: Exploring Growth Opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa.But this growth potential, enabled through increasing consumerism and global demand, will require businesses and governments to reorganise to meet a number of challenges.

As the business landscape becomes more dynamic, greater demands will be put on the organisation as a whole. This will also be true of the role of the shared services organisation. To remain relevant and continue adding value to the business, we believe the following performance

Figure 12: High-level depiction of service support models–discrete shared services to IBS.

IBS is the next-generation operating model that will enable existing shared services organisations to partner with their customers in addressing the dynamic business landscape. Organisations that have transitioned to an IBS model have evolved beyond the traditional, transactional and functional services. IBS is reorganised to deliver more complete end-to-end business solutions, focused on providing value add to business.

criteria will be expected of shared services organisations:• Delivering service enhancements through continuous improvement and driving cost reduction targets• Enabling growth in existing and new

markets without the traditional investments in new facilities, new infrastructure and new people

• Developing a partnership with customers in order to provide the services they demand and truly value• Demonstrating strategic value by providing accurate and business-specific information in a manner that can be easily interpreted• Attracting and retaining top talent with a

focus on developing innovative services that enhance the organisation’s growth potential.

• Classic back-office scale functions delivered at lower cost• Align on client services expectations with SLA’s and joint responsibilities• From BU silos to functional silos still creates non-standard processes

• Added skill functions and cross- functional synergies enhance the business case• Increase client centricity through

cross-functional priority management• Increased leverage achieved

through a common services delivery framework

• Greater end-to-end process control and delivery of mid-office as well as back-office services

• Evolve partnership through demand planning and global business strategy support

• Greater agility through end-to-end process ownership and fewer delivery partners

• Increased cross-functional integration to deliver greater business value• Full front-to-back office integration places client experience at the center• Maximum agility through location agnostic integrated services and partners• IBS is C-suite led and has end-to-end decision rights over budget and all resources

1. Discrete Shared Services 2. Multi-Function Shared Services (MFSS)

3. Global Business Services (GBS) 4. Integrated Business Services (IBS)

Fin

FIN

MFSS Lead

Common services management

Global process ownersGlobal delivery networkGlobal services management

MFSS Lead

MFSS Lead

GBS Lead

IBS Lead

FIN FIN

FIN

HR HR HR

HR

IT IT IT

IT

HR IT

Commercial servicesSupplier servicesEmployee servicesFianncial servicesAnalytic services

Services innovationGlobal services ownersIntergrated delivery networkIntergrated services management

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Typical characteristics of an IBS organisation include:

Independent entity reporting to a C-level leaderIBS is an enterprise-wide capability, playing a strategic role and serving as a simplified one-stop shop for its customers. IBS is managed like a business, enabling it to make sourcing, geographic and investment decisions. Senior leadership sponsorship has always been a critical success factor for shared services organisations. In the continued transition to IBS, this is even more relevant. Our research indicates (Figure 14) that 27 percent of shared services organisations operating in sub-Saharan Africa report to a chief executive officer (CEO). This indicates the elevation of shared services’ strategic importance and readiness for integrated business services.

Multifunction services managementEven though an organisation’s business services may be operated by a combination of captive and outsourced providers (hybrid sourcing model), a simple principle applies. A common governance framework to deliver business decisions and a consistent application of a service management framework will underpin the successful management of services across functions and delivery models.

Strategic process ownership and managementBusiness process management and end-to-end process ownership will allow an integrated business to comply with global process standards by leveraging standardised systems.

Accountability for cost reduction and improved service deliveryAs long as cost management is a priority, shared services organisations will continue to be relevant. Add to this the increasing demand for value-added services and end-to-end accountability and IBS becomes a real opportunity for mature shared services organisations.

Growth Platform

• Process & Solution Innovation• Ongoing Scope Innovation• Plug & Play for New Markets and Acquisitions

Efficiency Engine

• Provide the glue for the entire Operating Model• End-to-End Process Management• Deliver continuous improvement (2-5% YoY)

Business Partner

• Focus on user experience• Services Oriented - Measured• Exciting & Inclusive enviroment for GBS employees

CEO

Operational management of the business and external customer

Regions Categories

Innovation and product or service development

Strategy and policy

Business Services Corporate Functions

Deliver support and enabling services

Figure 14: 54 percent of sub-Saharan shared services organisations report to a C-level leader.To whom does the shared services organisation report?

CEO

President

COO, VP of Operations

Functional leader (CFO, CIP, CHRO, etc)

18% 27%

13%7%

25%

56% 54%

20%

44% 46%

AfricaGlobal

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Figure 13: Senior leadership sponsorship a critical success factor for shared services

Shared services, as an operating model, is in the middle of a transition to the next level. This can be attributed to the solid benefits realised from the established first wave of multifunctional operations. However, some fine-tuning is required to ensure continued relevance as a service provider to the organisation.

Shared services in sub-Saharan Africa is following the global trend, while dealing with its own unique challenges. As Africa continues to emerge as an investment destination for many global organisations, companies already operating in the continent will need to focus on a competitive strategy to maintain market share. Shared services has a role to play in enhancing this competitiveness.

Based on our experience and the findings of our research, Accenture believes the following opportunities exist for shared services companies operating in Sub Saharan Africa:

Scope expansionGiven a certain level of stability, the opportunity to expand the scope of services to include professional services will cement a move up the value chain. Data management and analytics will provide shared services with a critical role with respect to organisational insights and decision making.

Conclusion

Sourcing model reviewGiven the current economic challenges, a sourcing model review would be valuable, especially if it is feasible to incorporate a hybrid model keeping in mind business needs.

Business process management disciplineMany organisations have turned the corner and understand the value that a process-led organisation can lend to providing service excellence and cost-effective operations. It is important to understand the appropriate level of process ownership as well as the ability to report consistently on shared services performance, which would ideally be run automatically from a single source system.

Talent retention and developmentAs resources and requisite skills remain scarce, it is even more important to shape the workforce in line with the organisation’s requirements, invest in existing resources and provide opportunities for loyal employees to enhance their skills.

Integrated Business Services A number of the fundamentals are in place with organisations currently providing functional support through shared services. But the question remains—Is the shared services organisation evolving sufficiently to continue providing value to the business, and if so, is the transition to IBS the next step in the journey?

On this journey, it is important to be cognisant of the fact that achieving mastery in shared services takes time and is exactly that, a journey.

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Our research methodology Accenture conducted an online survey targeting executives who are responsible for managing and directing shared services organisations globally. The survey focused on five core elements—the scope of shared services, process excellence, service excellence, continuous improvement, and people, talent and culture.Accenture’s research team consolidated the responses received and analysed the overall results. The results from respondents with responsibilities in sub-Saharan Africa were isolated and compared with the global data.

Insights into the current state of shared services in sub-Saharan Africa and the key focus areas are discussed in this point of view.

Contact us Ryno MattheeManaging executive-Management ConsultingE-mail: ryno.matthee@accenture.comMobile: +27 82 572 9993

Neal BoardmanSenior manager-Finance & Enterprise Performance ManagementE-mail: neal.boardman@accenture.comMobile: +27 83 387 9087

Janet De AngelisSenior manager-Finance & Enterprise Performance ManagementE-mail: janet.deangelis@accenture.comMobile: +27 83 678 7277

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Figure 15: Sub-Saharan Africa

sub-Saharan Africa

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 259,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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