A global recognition has just been handed to the South African business process services (BPS) sector. Industry analysts suggested that global demand for the country's provisions is largely due to affordable prices.
Industry stakeholders have been promoting South Africa's BPS sector as part of the scheme to lead investors into the fold and the plan includes providing cost-efficient offers, IT News Africa reported. Research from Everest Group revealed that the country's BPS sector saw an annual growth of 22 percent for four consecutive years.
"South Africa's BPS value proposition is predicated on multiple factors, including our well-educated and English-proficient workforce. Labour is also highly cost-efficient compared to other markets due to the relative strength of the rand," MD for operations at Accenture Africa, Kabelo Makwane, said.
Aside from affordable offers, Africa's time-zone also fits well with European markets in search of business process services that share relatively close or similar time-zones with some of Asia's leading BPS-providing countries that offer the same services.
Over the past few years, South Africa's BPS sector has received significant attention from the government as the industry continues to gain traction in the global market. Renewed interest from investors also helped spur growth in the sector.
Makwane noted that President Cyril Ramaphosa specifically mentioned the BPS industry in his recent State of the Nation Address, indicating that the sector is one that drives growth and development in the South African economy.
South Africa has been improving its wireless and terrestrial connections. There have been advancements in ICT infrastructure projects and private and public sectors have started increasing scalability to further cater to the growing demand for South African service.
For Makwane, effective application of new tech and digitalization in automation processes will further increase the country's eligibility in performing BPS tasks for global markets. He said innovative programs for firms and providers will bridge the skills gap that some South African workers have.
Meanwhile, cloud-based business process services continue to grow internationally. A new study suggested that growth in the market will grow significantly in the coming years through the help of market key players including Microsoft, Cognizant Technology, and Accenture.
Another report suggested that business process management as a segment under the BPS sector is expected to grow its CAGR by over 31 percent come the year 2026. The numbers are expected to balloon as more companies lean on automation and improved workflow efficiency.
Aside from business-related issues that companies want to resolve, the BPS sector is also being propelled by the need to abide by government regulations and standards, further increasing the demand for service providers to compile data efficiently.
