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How about outsourcing your IT to… Somaliland!

The IT Engineering graduates at ExtendedBITS are ready!

If you were asked to what country you would outsource the building and testing of your software at interesting rates, you will probably think of China and India first. Well now there is a very interesting alternative: Somaliland. “We just completed our first successful projects for IT companies. The clients were happy with the good work; Somaliland delivers!” says Hasan Giire, one of the initiators of ExtendedBITS.

Let’s get one thing straight: Somaliland, in the northeast of the African continent, is not Somalia. “I like to call this the quiet part of Somalia”, says Hasan, who left his home country in 1988. Somaliland used to be part of Somalia until 1991 and is now an independent country, though not recognised as such by the international community. Somaliland is a stable country that steers clear of the piracy and the terrorism in the region.

Five of the best students

ExtendedBITS is an IT company with one foot in Somaliland and the other in The Netherlands, says Hasan. “We are an international business with an office in Europe and a software factory in Somaliland. Our business model is providing companies with (extra) IT resources. In cooperation with the IT Engineering Faculty of the Eelo American University in Somaliland, we selected five of the best students to work for ExtendedBITS. Our young local IT professionals have done a great job with the first assignment, which involved testing a software component of a website to the specifications of the client.”

“To clients, I can truthfully say there is no risk: you are dealing with a western company that has a software factory in the city of Borama, in Somaliland, that has excellent facilities in electricity and telecommunication and the best and cheapest rate for telephone and internet in the region.”

Extra resources

What market is ExtendedBITS catering for? “We focus on small and medium size IT companies in the West that need extra resources to implement projects in time. We are capable to deliver quality, flexibility and cheap hourly rate. Our young professional are eager to establish a decent life in their country and are therefore willing to go the extra mile.”

To the client, there is more to the assignment than just the idea of ‘good work at a great price’, says Hasan. “Just think of this: in Somaliland more than 70% of the people don't have work. And when a young person graduates, he only thinks about leaving the country. We want to prevent those kids leaving their own country, to prevent the brain drain. Every IT job that comes in will give young professionals a good reason to stay in Somaliland.”

“To know that by hiring these young people you can actually enable them to make a living there, is just great. These guys are literary hungry to prove their skills, a more dedicated staff is hard to find. So it is a real win-win-win situation.”

What do you think of ExtendedBIT?