- By quade
- 19 October 2023
Cape Town Welcomes British BPO Investors in the City
Alderman James Vos, a member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Growth, recently held a high-level meeting in Cape Town with investors and business leaders from Londo to highlight the benefits for business corporations in the city.
These meetings were part of a large trade mission with Wesgro, the province’s investment promotion agency. They were joined by the Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger. This mission hoped to show the benefits of setting up their Business Process Outsourcing opportunities.
Highlights of the Cape Town Talks
Among the events featured in this discussion was a panel involving Alderman Vos and Alastair Brass, the Chief Executive Officer of Amplify5. This is a British firm that assists companies in relocating their operations to Cape Town.
Just a month ago, Amplify5 established an office in Cape Town, with Alderman attending its inauguration. It currently employs 650 workers within its two offices. They are now working to increase their office space by getting additional properties. They hope to have as many as 4,000 workers to create several hubs across the city.
Alderman was supportive of this goal and fully believed in their plan to expand their presence, as seen during an interview.
“Amplify5’s expansion in Cape Town is an affirmation of our strength in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market. In fact, the UK is the largest global source market for the BPO industry in Cape Town with 75% of the international-facing agents servicing UK companies. The City has invested heavily in driving the skills base and infrastructure needed to support this industry and thereafter going out to promote Cape Town’s strength to investors as we are doing now.”
– Alderman James Vos, member of the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth
Today, South Africa has become one of the top global sites for BPO businesses like offshore call centers. The Ryan Strategic Advisory Front Office BPO Omnibus Survey named the country as one of the most favored offshore CX (customer experience) delivery points in 2023.
In particular, Cape Town has become the country’s unofficial BPO capital, which has resulted in a surge in demand among corporations. The needs of foreign businesses for BPO services in Cape Town grew so big that the City’s Special Purpose Vehicle in the BPO sector claims that anyone who finishes the necessary skills program can easily get a job in the BPO industry.
This program has already trained 1,000 young workers for a career in the BPO sector, including unemployed youth and high school students. This program covers different neighborhoods like Athlone, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, and Mitchells Plain.
The program’s purpose is to provide access to smaller call centers where these program members can get working experience in the industry and show them all the opportunities.
“Helping Capetonians to find and realize job opportunities is one of my highest priorities. I am excited to show businesses in key source markets why Cape Town is a leading African hub for investment and thus helping to develop more prospects for our communities.”
– Alderman James Vos, member of the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth
