Who you gonna call? Someone in South Africa

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandCrispin Sonn. Picture: Facebook/Crispin Sonn Story audio is generated using AI

Diplomatic relations with the US might be tense, but South Africa’s call centre sector is enjoying strong growth in the US market, says Crispin Sonn, chair of the Business Process Enabling SA (BPESA) board.

He told Business Times this week that getting into the market in the US, with its relatively high standard of living and a population spread across multiple time zones, had been a big boost for business process outsourcing (BPO) providers in South Africa.

“Traditionally… the South African market has had a very good and easy relationship with the UK. Specifically, the UK as a source market for business has been our primary market. We’ve had some successes in Australia.

“But I think the big success we’ve had is our breakthrough into the US market, which is a much bigger market. So the South African BPO providers have become a lot more successful in the US market. And the US market, by virtue of its design, is very complex, because each state in the US has a different set of expectations, regulations.”

The call centres field inquiries, complaints and other calls from customers of client companies around the world in sectors including financial services, retail and healthcare.

According to AlphaBPO, South Africa’s BPO sector generated an estimated R53bn in revenue in 2024. Last year, the sector added 26,346 jobs, aided in part by the time zone differences between South Africa and some of the developed economies.

Speaking to Business Times on the sidelines of a BPO conference in Cape Town this week, Sonn said one of the single biggest things South Africa could do to enhance its standing in the US market was to improve flight connections and broader travel access between the two countries.

“Somebody mentioned the fact that it took them 22 hours with a layover to get here from the US. Going to Mexico, which is also a source market for the UK, is a four-hour direct flight. So you really need to be able to make that air access convenient.”

He said if South Africa could improve its diplomatic ties with the US, there would be a knock-on effect for the visa process, air access and trade generally. “Right now, we are winning, despite none of that being present,” he added.

Somebody mentioned that it took them 22 hours with a layover to get here from the US. So you really need to be able to make that air access convenient

Clayton Williams, CEO of CapeBPO, said the Western Cape’s major market was the UK, accounting for 90% of the region’s volumes, until seven years ago. But since the Covid pandemic, clients in the US now accounted for 25%.

“Because of some of the constraints during Covid, the Philippines [another major call centre country] couldn’t service the volume [from the US]. They weren’t as agile as we were in terms of our delivery under the auspices of essential services. The US needed to look at alternative offshore locations, and South Africa came up.”

Kevin Lasky, COO of a US consulting firm working in customer relations, ApexCX, told Business Times that the company had helped South African call centres with expansion, brand positioning and sales strategies.

“Late 2016 was around the first time Apex came down to South Africa, and we’ve seen it grow and expand. I’ve spent time in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg over the last four years… Just seeing how much it’s expanded and how much it impacts the lives of people… tells a really compelling message to US buyers.”

Tom McCormick, a US specialist in the sector, said he was “very satisfied” with the way South African call centres were winning contracts in the US. “The promise of a really competent and intelligent workforce has proven to be true. Also, the operators and the ecosystem are maturing,” he said, adding that risk, governance and regulatory perspectives were all satisfactory.

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