OPINION: How a global pandemic highlighted SA’s BPO strengths

By Mathew Conn, Group Chief Revenue Officer of Merchants (Originally published at https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion-how-a-global-pandemic-highlighted-sas-bpo-strengths-48516586)

Recent social and economic challenges brought on by Covid-19 have only reinforced South Africa’s advantages, revealing major growth opportunities for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector in a post-pandemic world.

Some still claim South Africa lacks infrastructure, government stability, or proven delivery capability. The reality, however, is quite different: the country matches or exceeds many competing BPO destinations on key factors that drive outsourcing success.

South Africa has long been a key BPO partner for the UK, has won increasing business from Australian brands, and is now becoming a destination of choice for US clients.

Government support during lockdown further proved its resilience. While other major BPO hubs such as India and the Philippines experienced shutdowns, South Africa’s authorities worked to keep the BPO sector operational — a clear sign that policymakers understand the industry’s importance.

The nation’s large, diverse talent pool spans age, culture, language, and skills. The local contact-centre industry employs roughly 260 000 people, and BPESA’s Q4 2019 report showed that BPO and contact-centre roles accounted for 22 percent of all new jobs created. Notably, 85 percent of those workers were between 18 and 35 — critical in a country where youth unemployment exceeds 50 percent.

Job creation through BPO will be vital to South Africa’s post-Covid recovery. Modern recruitment platforms with behavioural profiling now help businesses better match individuals’ skills to client needs.

A Merchants survey of 2 000 respondents found that problem-solving ability is the top desired quality in a contact-centre agent, followed by personality, product knowledge, sense of urgency, and empathy. South African agents’ empathy and analytical ability underpin their consistently strong customer-experience metrics — including Net Promoter Score (NPS), Key Quality Score (KQS), and First Contact Resolution (FCR). Coupled with world-class infrastructure and cost competitiveness, this makes the country uniquely positioned among global BPO regions.

In a post-Covid landscape, outsourcing models will prioritise multi-region delivery and continuity planning. South Africa’s strong remote-work capability, flexible continuity solutions, and community-based operations give it an edge over less adaptive regions.

With ongoing collaboration between industry bodies, government, and BPO providers, South Africa is poised to lead the global BPO sector within the next five years — driving skills development, adopting advanced technology, and delivering world-class customer experiences.