ZIMBABWE stands to gain more than US$100 million if government invests in creating a conducive environment for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) expert and Executive Secretary of Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ) Rinos Mautsa has said.
Mautsa, who this Wednesday leads a BPO conference to be attended by international call centre players in Harare, said that Zimbabwe could be a hub of call centres if government incentivises foreign players who show intent to invest.
“We are seated on 6 000 in terms of employment; our target for the next three years is 30 000 employees.
“In terms of the foreign direct investment and service exports, that is the receipts that we stand to gain, is over US$100 million which is substantial in terms of what we are going through as a nation.
“We need government to incentivise international investors and capacitate players who are already in the industry,” said Mautsa.
“If we are to look at Zimbabwe right now without taking into consideration the current challenges we are going through, we have the capacity to be a BPO giant.”
Currently, Zimbabwe has over 36 Contact Centres in the telecommunications, insurance and banking sectors.
Some four players are servicing international markets with Econet Wireless launching Omni Contact as a Call Centre subsidiary to service the American and European market.
Added Mautsa, “It is a low hanging fruit and it is a good opportunity to generate foreign currency and create employment.”
The Phillipines and India are some of the countries that have been making millions from servicing European and American states through the setting up of Call Centres for European companies in their area.
Zimbabwe’s sector has failed to pick up pace although it has risen from an initial 50 employees in 2011 to 6 000 currently.
