"Exporting America" is the song being sung by all Presidential candidates, American media companies, from CNN to Fox to MSNBC. "Outsourcing" is the most common word these days in the newspapers from the headlines to columnists all trying to have their input on the effect of Outsourcing America.

The ongoing transportation of American jobs ranging from call center operations to skilled professional labor like computer programming, to lower-cost nations is a manifestation of a change in the terms of trade in global competition. Such jobs are now being sent to India, China or Eastern Europe largely because of technology - inexpensive telecommunications and labor, the internet and also the fact that these countries have large numbers of well-educated workers.

Outsourcing worldwide totaled to over $25 billion in 2003, and is expected to double by the end of 2005. Some countries economies are changing for the better by the day. Eastern European countries like, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Poland and Serbia, entered the global trading system in earnest only in recent years. Not too long ago, many of these countries were unknown, but after stabilizing politically and economically and companies noticing their willingness to change with the world, their names were uploaded, into the list of top country contenders and now they are sharing the same pie with the big cheese India and China.

We have seen jobs spreading to Asia and Europe leaving the African continent standing by the sidewalk, why is that? Why can't Cape Town, Nairobi, Cairo, Lagos or any other metropolis become the next silicon valleys of the world? The answer lies within the African continent, political instability, lack of security and corruption are what most companies know of African countries.

And what can we do to change their perception? The answer is simple and clear. African policy makers its time you hit the pause button, open up the curtain and look at what's happening in the other continents. Then ask yourselves if you are willing to work with the new era of the free market economy, or you are going to sit back and watch as it passes by? The choice is yours to make. If you choose to go with the wave, time is not on your side, you need to change your policies and ways of doing business soon.

As an African I have a few ideas that I would suggest. First I think you need to identify the companies that are outsourcing and try to establish a relation with them. Then update the listing of professionals who are unemployed, contact them, analyze their skills and upgrade them in areas that need upgrading. Then fall back on the established relation with the foreign companies and offer your skilled labor and incentives. Africa has a lot of potential from well-educated workers to cheap labor force and I don't see why we should be left behind.