CCW 2026 Side Event: Near- and Offshoring Potential in Africa and the Western Balkans

The discussion focused on how German customer service and call centre companies can respond to skilled labour shortages and cost pressures in times of digital transformation. New international markets were presented as a strategic option to secure quality, scalability and long-term competitiveness.

International talent pools as a strategic option

Serkan Tasli, Vice President Operations at Foundever, provided insights into corporate practice. He outlined key success factors for entering emerging locations in African countries and the Western Balkans. These include reliable infrastructure, a qualified multilingual workforce, stable regulatory frameworks and clearly defined transformation and growth strategies.

Opportunities and challenges of Business Process Outsourcing

During the subsequent “fireside chat”, Serkan Tasli and Stefan Heidtmann, Chief Commercial Officer at Teleperformance, discussed current developments in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. The conversation highlighted the strategic importance of the Western Balkans and African countries as multilingual talent hubs. It was also emphasised that nearshore and offshore models need to be carefully aligned with service complexity, language proximity and scalability requirements, while consistently taking sustainable corporate governance and social responsibility into account.

The event underlined that strategically designed near- and offshoring can contribute to addressing skilled labour shortages, strengthening international cooperation and sustainable growth in the European service sector.
Beyond the panel discussion, the evening provided space for in-depth exchanges between industry representatives and international partners. The discussions once again demonstrated the value of structured dialogue formats in translating market insights into tangible cooperation.