Paper short abstract:

Research in a Ghanaian IT company shows the paradoxical effects of success. The most-skilled employees receive high offers from international companies and leave. Is this a success? The aspirations of individuals and envisioned futures of societal development clash in this case study.

Paper long abstract:

We present results from empirical research in a Ghanaian IT company that has a training and an operative branch. A partnership between development agencies and a German company offers training for young IT experts to qualify them for collaboration with international companies. After an outsourcing wave of IT services to Asia in the 2000s, we find efforts to establish Africa as a contractor.

The main driver behind this IT initiative is the promise of a prosperous future. The results from interviews with employees, staff, and trainers show paradoxical results. Trainees and employees leave the company frequently – however, at different stages and for very different reasons. Graduates of the training program earn considerably higher salaries and have better employment opportunities than the average Ghanaian. Yet, the demanding training program and the stressful work for international clients result in a high rate of quitting.

One paradoxical outcome is that a successful transition from training to operational work leads to a high voluntary turnout. The best-performing employees receive offers from international companies that pay several times the wages of their current employer – sometimes in the US or Europe. Is this a success and for whom? There are conflicting imaginations of the future: Individual aspirations differ from the objectives of the profit-driven company and the interests of development organizations. Moreover, the most-thought employees are in a very different situation than the majority who struggle to fulfill the requirements of their jobs. This case demonstrates the paradoxes of successful IT work in Africa.