South Africa among the big boys of outsourcing

A survey by the international research group Everest Consultancy shows South Africa is one of the leading emerging destinations for business process outsourcing behind only China and Brazil

The survey was aimed at understanding companies’ perceptions and plans when choosing global service locations. There were 340 respondents in several sectors, including buyers and service providers. It also focused on emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Poland and Egypt.

The Western Cape is a leading South African call centre destination and stands to benefit substantially from the positive sentiment expressed by the survey. This month, the US online retail giant Amazon said it would expand its call centre operations in Cape Town, creating 1400 jobs by the end of next year.

Western Cape economic development MEC Alan Winde yesterday welcomed the results of the survey, and said the call centre industry had become an important source of growth and job creation.

"The Western Cape call centre industry has become a global contender for offshore call centre operations. This is in part due to the strategic focus placed on this sector by the department of economic development and tourism, through its promotion agency, Business Process Enabling SA (BPeSA) Western Cape.

"They have successfully put the word out that we have several competitive edges, including our ability to offer a great service at a great price, and this has been recognised by major global players," Mr Winde said.

Leading industry analyst and MD of Nelson Hall, John Willmott, said SA would experience substantial growth in the next few years, with continued business process outsourcing investment from the UK as well as increased interest from Australia and potentially the US.