South Africa’s national global business services sector representative body, Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA) on Tuesday launched its refreshed sector value proposition. This is intended to attract further foreign direct investment (FDI) into the sector and to create jobs, with a target of 500 000 cumulative jobs by 2030.

“The refreshed value proposition is part of BPESA’s drive to champion South Africa as a premier destination for Global Business Services, working alongside the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, InvestSA, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, and other government and industry stakeholders,” reported BPESA CEO Reshni Singh. “We believe the sector’s unique blend of cost-effectiveness, talent and infrastructure and its proven track record of success, competitiveness and maturity in this market will continue to attract FDI to our shores and drive inclusive growth for the country.”

In 2019, the South African sector employed 65 000 people, with total market revenues of $1.04-billion. By 2024, these figures had increased to some 150 000 people and $2.91-billion. The development of the sector in recent years has been driven by significant foreign investment.  The main centre for global business services operations is Cape Town, with Durban second and then Johannesburg. But Tshwane, East London and Gqeberha are also significant locations.

The main sectors covered are financial services, healthcare, legal services, and technology and communications. The biggest single source market for the sector is the UK, services to which employ 55% of the total workforce in the South African globally-focused sector. Back in 2019, the US accounted for just 1% of these workers; now, that proportion is 33%, showing the speed with which that segment has grown. The other major source markets are Australia, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

The refreshed value proposition has six pillars. They are – infrastructure and enabling environment; mature industry and value-driven growth; people prowess; assured service excellence; cost arbitrage and business advantage; and “tactical advantage”.

In terms of infrastructure and enabling environment, South Africa must ensure it has one of the best information and communication technology infrastructures in Africa, global contact centre standards (ISO 18295) that are based on South African best practices and the sector must have strong support from national, provincial and local governments. Mature industry and value-driven growth refers to the fact that the country can provide expertise in all relevant communications channels, as well as complex process management, deep knowledge in financial services, coupled with a move to tech-enabled high-value services, and developing capabilities in next-generation solutions, including cybersecurity.  People prowess alludes to the availability of a large, young, very trainable workforce, fluent in English, and with cultural affinities with the UK, US and Australia.

Assured service excellence is confirmed by the consistent high customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores, with the South African sector also recognised for high empathy in service delivery and excellent customer “journey” management and high first-call resolution rates. Cost arbitrage and business advantage refers to the fact that South African-based operations are 55% to 65% cheaper than they would be in the US, UK or Australia; South African government incentives reduced local operational costs by a further 7% to 10%; moreover, the sector is expanding into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across the country, offering greater flexibility (as well as creating direct and indirect jobs in these smaller centres). “Tactical advantage” alluded to the ability of locally based operations to access Africa through a regional hub-and-spoke model, allowing businesses to plug into the continent’s fast-growing markets, and access long-term growth.