Is hiring top talent in Africa feeling impossible?
Your latest hire just gave two weeks’ notice. Again. Now you’re back at square one, fighting every other company for the same small pool of qualified candidates.
What starts as a simple hiring challenge quickly turns into missed deadlines, overworked teams picking up the slack, and that sinking feeling that you’re spending more on hiring than on growth.
The impact goes beyond HR. Projects stall, employees get stretched thin, and leadership is left wondering why a key role has been empty for months.
This is also a business growth problem. And the longer a role stays open, the more it compounds.
This guide covers some of the best Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) companies in Africa and explains how partnering with an RPO can make your hiring faster, cheaper, and smarter.
Key Takeaways
- RPO companies help businesses hire faster, reduce costs, and improve candidate quality.
- Services vary: partial-cycle, full-cycle, project-based, and AI-assisted recruitment.
- Betternship stands out in Africa for tech-focused, flexible, and cost-efficient hiring.
- Partnering with the right RPO can scale your business efficiently across Africa.
What Are Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Companies?
RPO companies act as an extension of your HR team. They handle part or all of your hiring process: from posting jobs and screening candidates to interviewing and onboarding, depending on what your business needs.
While large enterprises have traditionally relied on RPOs, today, small and medium businesses across Africa can also access these services.
RPOs are no longer just for the big players; they’re for any organization looking to hire faster and smarter.
Why Outsource Recruitment?
Working with an RPO saves time, money, and stress. Instead of juggling dozens of open roles and endless resumes, you get a dedicated team that specializes in hiring.
The global RPO market was valued at just over $6 billion in 2021, with an expected cumulative annual growth rate of 6.62% between 2021 and 2027.
The rapid growth over previous years and projected growth in the RPO industry is a testament to the wide range of benefits RPO companies provide.
Benefits include:
- Resource Savings
Hiring is expensive. Filling an executive role in Africa can cost tens of thousands of dollars when you consider advertising, recruitment time, and the cost of wrong hires.
RPOs shorten the time to hire and increase the chances of getting the right candidate. This reduces the overall cost per hire while keeping your current team productive.
- Flexibility
Hiring needs aren’t constant. Some months you may need one role, other months ten. RPOs scale with you, providing as many recruiters as you need, when you need them.
You don’t have to hire a full-time team for peak periods or risk delays during high-demand seasons.
- Better-Quality Hires
Bad hires cost money, time, and morale. RPOs have experience finding top talent across industries in Africa. They know how to screen candidates for skills, culture fit, and remote readiness.
Many RPOs also maintain candidate pools for quick replacements, so you’re never caught short when someone leaves unexpectedly.
- Comprehensive Talent Management
RPOs don’t just hire; they manage the recruitment process end-to-end. This includes crafting job descriptions, sourcing candidates, ensuring compliance with African labor laws, and smoothing onboarding.
For specialized industries like logistics, finance, or tech, an RPO can deliver even more impact by matching niche talent to your needs quickly and efficiently.
What Are the Different RPO Services?
RPO companies offer different ways to support your hiring, depending on your needs. These include:
In partial-cycle outsourcing, your company handles part of the hiring, and the RPO handles the rest.
For example, the RPO might provide a list of qualified candidates. Your team then reviews, shortlists, and interviews to make the final decision. This is ideal if you want help sourcing talent but still want control over final selections.
Full-cycle RPO means the RPO takes care of everything, from posting jobs and sourcing candidates to interviews, hiring, and onboarding.
RPOs in this model often provide strategic guidance and use advanced tools to improve the process. Your HR team can focus on other priorities while the RPO manages the recruitment end-to-end.
Project-based RPO is similar to full-cycle but is focused on specific projects or urgent hiring needs. For example, if your company is rolling out a digital transformation project or needs specialized skills quickly, an RPO can step in to fill all positions required for the project.
Some RPOs now use AI to make recruitment faster and smarter. Examples include predictive talent analytics, AI-powered applicant tracking systems, and chatbots to engage candidates.
AI can dramatically reduce time-to-hire and costs, especially for roles with high-volume hiring needs.
Read More: The Best Alternatives to Freelance Platforms for Hiring Full-Time Talent in Africa
10 Best Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Companies in Africa
Here are 10 of the best companies helping businesses find top talent across the continent:
1. Betternship
Betternship is a tech and business-focused RPO platform connecting businesses with pre-vetted developers, designers, marketers, virtual assistants, and more across Africa.
We manage everything from sourcing and vetting to onboarding, giving companies fast access to top talent. Flexible, startup-friendly, and built for scale, Betternship is ideal for organizations growing fast in tech.
Why Betternship Stands Out
While there are many RPO companies in Africa, Betternship offers a unique combination of speed, quality, and flexibility:
- Pan-African Reach: Access top tech talent from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and beyond.
- Pre-Vetted Talent: Every candidate is carefully screened for skills, experience, and culture fit.
- Flexible Hiring Options: Hire full-time, contract, or project-based talent depending on your needs.
- Tech-Focused: Designed for startups, scaleups, and companies building tech teams fast.
- Fast Time-to-Hire: Fill critical roles quickly without compromising quality.
- Cost-Efficient: Save on recruitment costs compared to traditional in-house hiring or expensive global RPOs.
Betternship doesn’t just help you hire; we help you build and scale teams that drive growth, all across Africa.
You can learn more about our process on How It Works – Hire Remote Talents
Hire African Talent Now with Betternship→
💼 You can also post a job for free on Betternship
2. Robert Walters Africa
A global brand with a strong African presence, Robert Walters Africa provides full-cycle and modular RPO solutions. They leverage data, technology, and local expertise to fill both executive and specialized roles across multiple countries.
3. RPO Recruitment SA
Based in South Africa, RPO Recruitment SA offers full, partial, and project-based RPO solutions. They provide tailored recruitment insights, applicant tracking system (ATS) integration, and compliance support, helping businesses scale efficiently.
4. Humankind Group
Humankind Group delivers flexible RPO services across Africa. They can fully manage recruitment or support specific stages. Their focus on talent development and change management makes them a reliable partner for organizations modernizing their HR processes.
5. Afrizan People Intelligence
Afrizan provides RPO and managed service solutions. They can embed recruitment teams in your business or handle on-demand hiring spikes. Their expertise spans Africa, making them a strong choice for companies with regional or multi-country hiring needs.
6. AdoGreen Africa
AdoGreen offers fully managed RPO services, including local and expat recruitment. They specialize in large-scale hiring and long-term RPO partnerships, and also support employer branding and candidate database development.
7. Xpertize Africa / The RPO Company
Operating across Africa, Xpertize Africa’s RPO division delivers full-cycle, project-based, and flexible recruitment outsourcing. They are particularly strong in North Africa but also serve other regions for specialized or high-volume hiring.
8. HumanitySA
HumanitySA offers tailored RPO services, from candidate sourcing and screening to recruitment analytics. Their model is highly flexible, making them a solid choice for companies that need only parts of the recruitment process outsourced.
9. Reed Africa
Reed Africa handles on-demand RPO, full-cycle projects, and modular recruitment services. They are experienced in high-volume hiring and cyclical recruitment demands, providing reliable solutions across African markets.
10. KPR (South Africa)
KPR offers metrics-driven RPO services with a focus on measurable efficiency. Their scalable and flexible model works for both local and international recruitment projects, helping businesses optimize hiring costs and speed.
Read More: Best 15 Tech Recruitment Companies in Africa for IT Talent in 2025
Conclusion
Choosing the right RPO partner can transform your hiring process and accelerate business growth.
While many RPO companies operate across Africa, Betternship stands out by combining tech-focused expertise, pre-vetted talent, pan-African reach, and flexible hiring models.
Whether you’re scaling a startup, building a tech team, or filling critical roles quickly, partnering with the right RPO ensures faster hires, better-quality candidates, and lower overall recruitment costs.
Get started: [Hire African Talent Now with Betternship]
💼 You can also post a job for free on Betternship