The decision to host an international contact centre and business process outsourcing (BPO) conference in SA signifies the country`s presence among the first rank of offshore locations for western businesses, says the conference organiser.
The conference will take place in Cape Town this week and is organised by UK-based company ICT Communications. It will afford visitors from European and US companies the opportunity to visit contact centres and BPO operations in the Mother City, Johannesburg and Durban.
To date, more than 30 companies have established contact centre and BPO operations in SA, either as owned operations or via outsourced service providers, creating a lb60 million (R700 million) industry. Continuing government commitment and the deregulation of SA`s telecoms industry in February is expected to fuel growth rates of 40% per annum over the next three years.
"There is much to attract international buyers to SA," says Christina Wood, ICT Communications event director. "High unemployment means a large, well-educated labour pool, stable salaries and low staff turnover. Levels of English literacy are high, property costs are low and the quality of facilities and support services is excellent."
Wood says this country`s business culture closely mirrors that of the west and, particularly, the UK. "This not only means that companies find doing business in SA reassuringly familiar, but that the agent workforce is able to empathise easily with the demands and expectations of the western consumers they speak to."
Zoliwe Ntungo, head of the BPO unit of the Department of Trade and Industry, says the most significant government intervention has been the recently announced plan to deregulate the country`s telecoms industry from 1 February.
After that date, value-added network providers will be able to carry voice traffic over their Internet networks. Until now they`ve been restricted to carrying data, an activity already deregulated. Prices are expected to fall rapidly into line with those of other low-cost offshore locations.
"Under the terms of the monopoly, South African contact centres have found it hard to compete with international telephony costs offered by other lower cost locations. But, despite that, we`ve been seeing year-on-year growth of 25% in the industry. We expect growth to accelerate dramatically as the effects of deregulation are felt," Ntungo says.
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