Essar Group?s BPO arm Aegis Ltd is planning to expand its operations in Africa in the second half of 2009. The company already has a small scale operation in Nairobi. As the company aims to become a $1 billion company in couple of years, the expansion plans in Africa is a part of such an initiative.

The company is also looking for acquisitions to expand its footprint in Africa. However, it is not yet ready to disclose its investment plans for Africa.

?Africa seems to be a potential and developing market, and we are definitely planning to expand our operations in Africa. For which we are looking at options for acquisition. However, nothing is finalised as of now. But we are planning to start our operation in Africa by the second half of this year,? said Aparup Sengupta, managing director & global CEO, Aegis BPO. ?As far as investment is concerned, it is not a problem for us. Being a part of the Essar Group, we have a free budget for acquisitions,? he added.

The acquisitions in Africa will be in the area of customer life cycle management space.

Though Sengupta declined to disclose the hiring plans for African operation, Aegis has plans of hiring 12,000 people in 2009. The company as already hired 3,000 people during the beginning of 2009.

?It?s too early to comment on hiring plans for Africa, its still under discussion. But across India, US, Philippines, Costa Rica, and Africa, where we currently have our operations, we plan to recruit 1000 people on an average, every month,? said Sengupta.

The company is also looking at 5-6 acquisitions in India, as well as overseas. ?We are constantly in look out for acquisitions, which will add value to our operations and the company,? said Sengupta.

In last three years, Aegis has acquired 12 firms. In October last year, Aegis had acquired off-shoring firm ?PeopleSupport? for around Rs 1,057 crore. And the latest being the acquisition of UCMS Group, a leading BPO services provider in Australia. Aegis also expects a turnover of over $550 million and has targeted to grow at around 50% during this financial year.