September 6, 2006
By Anish Abraham
DESPITE challenges such as high telecommunications costs, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in South Africa is experiencing good growth, and Johannesburg is positioning itself as a key player in the market.
These were some of the findings that came out of a briefing by local industry participants, including representatives from the banking, insurance, human resources and information technology sectors. The briefing was held at Direct Channel's new 600-seater call centre in the Sanlam Centre in Randburg on 5 September.
Call centres are expected to become an R8,6-billion industry employing some 100 000 people by 2008, with the majority based in Gauteng, and the City of Johannesburg has instated a sector support programme to boost the BPO industry within its borders.
Joburg has identified the inner city as a prime spot for companies in the call centre industry, being situated suitably close to Soweto, the largest labour pool in the country.
Though its exact location and size in the inner city is not yet known, businesses wishing to set up in the area will be able to take advantage of the Urban Development Zone tax incentive.
Peter Molotsi, deputy director of Contactin Gauteng, the provincial association aimed at advancing the BPO sector, stressed the need to improve awareness of the sector. "There is a need for exposing schoolchildren to the various aspects of the BPO sector, while creating an awareness of what South Africa's BPO sector plans are," he said.
Another topic that featured prominently was the need to ensure proper training of call centre agents. Already, a banking institution has put together a training programme with Unisa to ensure their call centre agents have a good idea of the banking industry and its products and services.
To address that need, Johannesburg plans to set up a BPO Skills Hub in the inner city. Through the hub, the City will subsidise the cost of training previously disadvantaged individuals to a certain level and will then maintain a database of skilled workers to be used by companies in the sector.
"In the short term this is more of a virtual process, with in-house training, but our intention is eventually to have a physical 'bricks and mortar' skills development hub," said Charnell Hebrard, a project consultant in the City's economic development unit.
Provincial government was also commended for its efforts to stimulate the sector, mainly as a result of the Gauteng Shared Services Centre, which set up a call centre in Alexandra and hired local residents.
"The City of Johannesburg are also doing some fantastic work with the Business Skills Hub and BPO zone," said Traci Freeman, operations and project consultant to Contactin Gauteng.
Properly skilled call centre agents ensure that communication between them and the clients are much easier, while also ensuring a higher resolution rate. Unlike India or the Philippines, which offer cheaper labour costs, South Africa is positioning itself as a high-quality call centre base.
"Those working in international call centres are not just agents for a company, but ambassadors for their country," said Gary Bennett, offshore account manager for Virgin Mobile.
Bennett has flown in from the UK to oversee the Virgin Mobile call centre, which has been running for a few months. He says his experiences of call centres in South Africa have been better than in Europe or Asia. "There is much more desire in South Africa for resolving the callers' queries," he said.
Molotsi agreed, adding that the local industry had come a long way since its beginnings and some developments, technologically and otherwise, are beyond the level of some European countries.
"There are some obstacles such as cumbersome and expensive telecommunications, but then there are numerous positives. That's why the negatives are so easy to mention," concluded Bennett.
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