While Gauteng and, to a lesser extent, the Western Cape have historically dominated the South African business process outsourcing (BPO) market, regions like KwaZulu-Natal are fast establishing themselves as viable alternative destinations for BPO services.
So says Kobus van der Westhuizen, Aegis country manager, who points out that outsourcing activity within the South African market is increasing, partly due to increased awareness of cost savings and improved efficiencies, coupled with global best practices associated with outsourcing.
He adds that the country is also enjoying renewed attractiveness as an offshoring destination through a combination of improved telecoms infrastructure and a government subsidy scheme, which makes SA up to 50% cheaper than an in-house operation in the UK.
Aegis says the new operation has already created more than 150 new jobs and will grow to more than 300 new jobs in KZN. The centre will ultimately host more than 300 call centre seats, as it serves a range of local and international clients.
Van der Westhuizen believes SA has a real opportunity to establish itself as a meaningful player in the global BPO industry, creating literally thousands of jobs in the process.
“If you look at the UK market alone, there's more than a billion pounds of business up for grabs in the next five years, and we're ideally placed to take a large slice of that. SA brings immense benefits to the table in the outsourcing industry, including its time zones, high-quality agents with easily-understandable accents and keen pricing.”
Describing some of the challenges besetting the industry, Van der Westhuizen says: “One of the big challenges is competition from major outsourcing markets like India and the Philippines, and emerging locations in South America, the Middle East and Asia.
“Another challenge, he adds, is lingering negativity in some quarters about the country's ability to establish itself as a sustainable offshore destination - which we believe is entirely misplaced.”
Share
