You've certainly already heard about "impact sourcing, but do you know what it is?

The Rockefeller Foundation defines the impact sourcing as "a practice of social inclusion through employment, whereby societies give work to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds". The impact sourcing differs from the traditional sourcing (which is to outsource all or part of a company's business to avoid costs) Thanks to its impact on society, by promoting the social inclusion of the people furthest from employment. The impact sourcing was born of a paradigm shift in the fight against poverty and a willingness to reduce inequality through work. In French, "Impact sourcing" is translated as "socially responsible outsourcing".According to a study carried out by the Everest group in 2014, impact sourcing workers would be more motivated, more loyal, and the quality of work would be higher than that of traditional outsourcing.

The impact sourcing usually involves outsourcing of IT services or administrative DATA, although R&D and other services may be involved. Despite its significant social impact, the impact sourcing does not cost more to companies that outsource since it is competitive against traditional sourcing by offering the same services at the same rates and with identical quality. Companies using the impact sourcing industry benefit from a double profit: excellent value for money and the benefit of participating in a responsible project that can be part of their CSR policy. Three North American companies share the sourcing impact market and outsource mainly to India and English-speaking Africa.

Isahit, a young French start-up, has recently entered the market for the impact sourcing and outsourcing in Africa by working people in precarious situations, mainly women. The Internet platform links socio-economically disadvantaged workers in Francophone African countries with French companies seeking to outsource part of their digital activities. Isahit is intended for people living below the poverty line set at $2/day. A hundred people work for isahit in Africa, they are "hiteuses". Hiteuses work on digital tasks that can be as varied as data analysis, information retrieval, and content moderation.Isahit is positioned as an income supplement that allows for a working time of 3 hours/day to earn €250/month. This income supplement allows the hiteuses to realize a professional project such as starting a business or resuming their studies. The strength of isahit lies in the accompaniment of its hiteuses, trainings are offered to the hiteuses to enable them to appropriate the tools of the digital, the Internet and the codes of the world of work. The digital divide is a big issue for disadvantaged populations, especially for women. Isahit also offers a personalized accompaniment in each country, a "Huber" is the referent of Isahit and allows to make the link between the team Parisian and the hiteuses. Isahit encourages hiteuses to get out of the informal economy by their bankarisation and self-entrepreneur.

The firm KIMSO, specialized in social impact measurement, has defined with Isahit 6 criteria for measuring its impact: family, education, employment and income, health, accommodation and personal development. These criteria are used to measure the concrete impact of isahit in the life of hiteuses with the SROI method.

Thanks to their work on the Isahit platform, Hiteuses have been able to share their experience:

« I'm a Master of accountancy student. Thanks to my work with Isahit I was able to pay my second instalment of tuition.» Mary N. Bafoussam, Cameroon

« Through my work with Isahit, I created my "Hope Consulting & Services" structure with which I will provide accounting assistance and advice.»  Diane N. Abidjan, Ivory Coas