Business / Companies
Khaya Moyo urges private sector to leverage on call centres to create jobs
06 Nov 2015 at 10:35hrs | Views
Government has called upon the private sector to invest in call centres so as to create more jobs within the economy.
A call centre is basically a facility that is equipped to handle large amounts of customer telephone requests for an organisation, and is a critical component of effective customer service.
Minister of Policy Co-ordination and Promotion of Socio-Economic Ventures in the President's Office Simon Khaya Moyo said the private sector should take a cue from Government which is already in the process of establishing a National Call Centre.
"The services sector is growing not only in Zimbabwe but the world at large. In this regard, I would like to urge the private sector to seriously invest in call centres. Call centres will help us to create jobs for thousands of our graduates and youths.
The ministry of ICTs is setting up the Government national call centre. That project it is a clear testament that we as Government we are taking this sector seriously and we are prioritising job creation in-line with ZimAsset," he said.
Minister Moyo - who was speaking at a Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ) awards ceremony recently - said locally, call centres were still limited to the telecoms, banking and insurance sectors.
But to the extent that they are adopted broadly, they could have a positive impact on employment and the broader economy as has been shown by other countries in the region and globally.
"Service delivery and employment creation should be a major objective of any Government and should be a major objective of our country and Africa as whole. The call center industry has created over millions of jobs globally. For example, in south Africa and Kenya, millions of dollars have been contributed to these economies annually and hundreds of thousands are working in call centres. "To date, as you may be aware, the in-house call centers are only in the telecoms, banking and insurance sectors. The in-house call centers are employing over hundreds of thousands of people, which is a clear indication, of the potential of this sub sector. It is this sub-sector which can create employment for the vast majority of our people, especially the youths," said Minister Moyo.
Experts says the country has the potential to become a leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and call centre industry in the region, on the basis of its high literacy levels, low cost per seat and low set up costs.
With the local productive sectors in a state of flux, mainly due to high capital requirements in an economy facing liquidity challenges, the services sector - especially the call centre industry - can step in to drive employment growth.
In an earlier paper CCAZ projected that the local call centre industry can create over 50 000 jobs within the next five years if all the fundamentals are in place.
According to Minister Moyo, promotion of the call centre industry is line with broader developments in the region in respect of the services sector.
"Under the SADC-EAC-COMESA tripartite negotiations; the services sector is one of the top sector that has attracted a lot of importance and consideration. In this regard, it is important that as country we position ourselves in that direction.
"I therefore urge both the private and public sector to render support to CCAZ programs aimed to see growth of the call center industry which will offer excellent service delivery, and uphold customer service as a profession among others," he said.
According to the BPO and Call Centre Report (2013) which was carried out by the National Call Centre Development and Service Delivery Improvement Project Researchers in partnership with CCAZ, Zimbabwe's labour costs were comparably lower than countries both from the region and globally.
It noted that on average, labour costs accounted for 35 percent of total costs of operating a call Centre in Zimbabwe. This compares to 70 percent in developed countries in the global call centre study, and an average of 57 percent in all industrialising countries.
Additionally, Zimbabwe also offers a lower total (fully loaded) cost of setting up and running BPO services compared to competing regional locations, such as Mauritius, South Africa, or global locations such as India or the Philippines.
A call centre is basically a facility that is equipped to handle large amounts of customer telephone requests for an organisation, and is a critical component of effective customer service.
Minister of Policy Co-ordination and Promotion of Socio-Economic Ventures in the President's Office Simon Khaya Moyo said the private sector should take a cue from Government which is already in the process of establishing a National Call Centre.
"The services sector is growing not only in Zimbabwe but the world at large. In this regard, I would like to urge the private sector to seriously invest in call centres. Call centres will help us to create jobs for thousands of our graduates and youths.
The ministry of ICTs is setting up the Government national call centre. That project it is a clear testament that we as Government we are taking this sector seriously and we are prioritising job creation in-line with ZimAsset," he said.
Minister Moyo - who was speaking at a Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ) awards ceremony recently - said locally, call centres were still limited to the telecoms, banking and insurance sectors.
But to the extent that they are adopted broadly, they could have a positive impact on employment and the broader economy as has been shown by other countries in the region and globally.
"Service delivery and employment creation should be a major objective of any Government and should be a major objective of our country and Africa as whole. The call center industry has created over millions of jobs globally. For example, in south Africa and Kenya, millions of dollars have been contributed to these economies annually and hundreds of thousands are working in call centres. "To date, as you may be aware, the in-house call centers are only in the telecoms, banking and insurance sectors. The in-house call centers are employing over hundreds of thousands of people, which is a clear indication, of the potential of this sub sector. It is this sub-sector which can create employment for the vast majority of our people, especially the youths," said Minister Moyo.
With the local productive sectors in a state of flux, mainly due to high capital requirements in an economy facing liquidity challenges, the services sector - especially the call centre industry - can step in to drive employment growth.
In an earlier paper CCAZ projected that the local call centre industry can create over 50 000 jobs within the next five years if all the fundamentals are in place.
According to Minister Moyo, promotion of the call centre industry is line with broader developments in the region in respect of the services sector.
"Under the SADC-EAC-COMESA tripartite negotiations; the services sector is one of the top sector that has attracted a lot of importance and consideration. In this regard, it is important that as country we position ourselves in that direction.
"I therefore urge both the private and public sector to render support to CCAZ programs aimed to see growth of the call center industry which will offer excellent service delivery, and uphold customer service as a profession among others," he said.
According to the BPO and Call Centre Report (2013) which was carried out by the National Call Centre Development and Service Delivery Improvement Project Researchers in partnership with CCAZ, Zimbabwe's labour costs were comparably lower than countries both from the region and globally.
It noted that on average, labour costs accounted for 35 percent of total costs of operating a call Centre in Zimbabwe. This compares to 70 percent in developed countries in the global call centre study, and an average of 57 percent in all industrialising countries.
Additionally, Zimbabwe also offers a lower total (fully loaded) cost of setting up and running BPO services compared to competing regional locations, such as Mauritius, South Africa, or global locations such as India or the Philippines.
Source - BH24
