| South Africa seen as India’s rival in outsourcing |
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South Africa may emerge as India’s rival in business process outsourcing, thanks to its better infrastructure, low labour costs and cultural advantages.
South Africa may emerge as India’s rival in business process outsourcing, thanks to its better infrastructure, low labour costs and cultural advantages.
The number of call centres in South Africa will double in four years, says a study, South Africa: An emerging offshore location, conducted by Britain-based independent market analyst Datamonitor.
Offshore agent positions are also expected to quadruple from the current levels, says the report made available to IANS. Agent positions are terminals from which call centre operators make and receive telephone calls to internal or external customers. Multiple agents can use the same agent positions during varying shifts in a day.
South Africa will occupy an important position in firms’ global operations portfolios, says the report.
It will slot in between near-shore locations such as Canada and Mexico, which offer close proximity and also cultural affinity (to the US), and more traditional offshore locations such as India and the Philippines that offer cheap labour.
The report says South Africa offers a higher quality, more culturally aligned front-office and back-office location where labour costs run at two-thirds of their US or British equivalent in the business process outsourcing (BPO) space.
Datamonitor expects there will be 939 call centres in South Africa by 2008 - almost double the current number of 494, registering a compound annual growth rate of 14 percent during the period.
The total number of agent positions is predicted to rise to 69,600 in the same period, according to the report. Currently, as many as 70 percent of South Africa’s offshore customer service agents serve clients in the British market.
Most of these agent positions are located in the Gauteng province - more specifically, in Johannesburg. However, Datamonitor expects the balance will shift in favour of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province soon.
South Africa is not as much of a labour arbitrage cost play when compared to India and the Philippines, says Ryan Powell, Datamonitor call centre analyst and author of the study.
It, however, offers multilingual and non-English language agents that are better able to deliver more differentiated customer service based on greater empathy and closer cultural affinity, he says.
These services are offered to customers in key target markets such as the US and European countries like Britain, Holland, Germany and France.
The Dutch market is expected to be the biggest non-English language market that is served from South Africa.
South African call centres are expected to provide higher quality customer service and sales services, with a particular focus on the financial services industry.
The established call centre industry means middle managers already exist. Top-up training will bring those people up to suitable levels whereby they can best meet their offshore clients’ requirements, says Powell.
State-funded learner-ships are helping to fill the staffing pipeline to the industry for the longer-term needs, he adds.
The promised deregulation of the telecom market will bring about greater price competition, stimulating further demand for offshore operations in South Africa, said the study.
India’s educational system and training programmes have helped transform the country into a global outsourcing superpower. The $2.6 billion business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in Asia’s fourth largest economy has now become one of the top money-spinning ventures for the country and is set to grow at a dazzling clip in the years ahead.
More than a quarter of Fortune 500 companies like General Electric, American Express, British Airways, HSBC and Citibank have shifted their back office operations to India.
--Indo-Asian News Service
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| Radio helps reach out to Indian expatriates - Nov 22, 2004 12:37 IST |
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An attempt to reach out to the Indian diaspora via the airwaves of Australia is drawing attention as an encouraging success story.
Indian expatriates in Australia can hear their own languages on the air - even if only for a few hours each week.
Australia officially argues that community radio initiatives can play a role in enhancing the mutual understanding and cooperative spirit that underpins the tolerant and harmonious Australian society.
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| South Africa 230/4 at stumps - Nov 21, 2004 13:27 IST |
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South Africa Saturday were 230 for four at close on the opening day of the first cricket Test against India at the Green Park Stadium here.
Andrew Hall (78) and Boeta Dippenaar (46) were together at stumps.
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| Muslim leader opposes Kanchi seer’s arrest - Nov 21, 2004 13:25 IST |
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All India Muslim Personal Law Board general secretary Maulana Syed Nizamuddin flayed the arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi.
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| Manmohan wins Manipur hearts amid shutdown - Nov 21, 2004 13:23 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday sought to win hearts in Manipur with promises of peace and development and was loudly cheered even as a boycott call by rebels ensured a shutdown in most parts.
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| Manmohan launches historic Manipur railway project - Nov 21, 2004 13:21 IST |
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Till Saturday, bizarre as it may sound, the northeastern state of Manipur had a mere 1.5 km of rail track.
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| Jubilation as Manmohan hands over historic Kangla Fort - Nov 21, 2004 13:17 IST |
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Hundreds of people in India’s troubled northeastern state of Manipur shed tears of joy as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday formally handed over to the local government the historic Kangla Fort, a symbol of Manipuri culture and pride.
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| Give up arms, Manmohan urges Manipur separatists - Nov 21, 2004 13:15 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday appealed to all separatist groups in Manipur to give up arms and open peace talks with the government.
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| Bohra cleric goes missing - Nov 21, 2004 13:11 IST |
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A leading cleric of the Bohra sect has been missing for two days, police said.
Amil Saheb Abdul Qadir, 28, an influential figure of the sect, went missing Thursday while returning to Surat from Mumbai by Ajmer Express.
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| India hopes to bid for 2016 Olympics: Manmohan - Nov 21, 2004 13:9 IST |
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India hopes to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday.
We are hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games and would like to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, the prime minister said while addressing the ninth convocation of Manipur University here.
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| Manmohan reaches out to Manipuris, urges rebels - Nov 21, 2004 13:7 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday called upon militant groups to shun violence and talk peace during a hectic day-long visit to Manipur when he launched work on its first railway network, and promised to review a controversial anti-terrorist law.
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| Hall leads South Africa’s charge in first Test - Nov 21, 2004 13:5 IST |
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Andrew Hall scored an unbeaten 77 to help South Africa to 230 for four after Anil Kumble threatened to spin the visitors out on the first day of their first cricket Test match against India at the Green Park here.
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| HDFC hikes home loans rates by 50 basis points - Nov 21, 2004 12:59 IST |
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Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), the country’s largest housing finance company, Saturday announced an increase of 50 basis points in its floating interest rate on home loans.
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| Manmohan extends healing mission to Manipur - Nov 21, 2004 12:55 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday extended his healing mission from Jammu and Kashmir to Manipur as the people of the insurgency-hit state defied a curfew imposed by an underground outfit and came out in large numbers to cheer him.
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| Advani, BJP fast for Shankaracharya - Nov 21, 2004 12:54 IST |
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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L.K. Advani Saturday observed a day’s hunger strike against the arrest of Hindu pontiff Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi even as the party snapped ties with Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK over the issue.
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| Madras High Court declines Kanchi seer bail - Nov 21, 2004 12:54 IST |
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A Madras High Court judge Saturday rejected the bail application of Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, while another judge posted for Monday a state plea to extend his police custody by one more day.
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| 60 percent vote for Madhya Pradesh urban bodies - Nov 21, 2004 12:52 IST |
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Amidst stray incidents of violence, between 60 to 65 percent of voters Saturday cast their ballots for electing representatives to the 144 urban bodies spread across Madhya Pradesh.
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| Indian shares seen in consolidation mode in week ahead - Nov 21, 2004 12:50 IST |
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After touching a nine-month high in the past week, India’s benchmark share market index is expected to consolidate its gains in the coming sessions with investors adopting a cautious approach.
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| Pakistani visitors add to Punjab cultural galas - Nov 21, 2004 12:48 IST |
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Leading cities in Punjab are awash with colourful cultural events, and making the mood even more festive is the bonhomie with Pakistani participants.
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| Aishwarya may appear in ’Rush Hour 3’ - Nov 21, 2004 12:47 IST |
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Bollywood icon Aishwarya Rai may find herself in Rush Hour 3 after Sheeraz Hasan, producer of a US entertainment show, initiated talks between the actress and Hollywood director Brett Ratner.
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| Look who’s backing the Shankaracharya! - Nov 21, 2004 12:45 IST |
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Tamil Brahmins may or may not have come out in support of arrested Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi of Kanchipuram, but sections of the underprivileged Dalit classes have expressed anger at the treatment meted out to the seer.
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