27 Sep 2020

Botswana Process Outsourcing (BPO) has the potential to create more jobs and address the current unemployment concern particularly among the youth.

When welcoming stakeholders at BPO roundtable forum Chief operations officer at Botswana Investment Trade Centre (BITC) Mr Regionald Selelo said ‘the time is fitting BPO sector to be re-invigorated so that it can exist in Botswana as a sector that employs mostly the youth given the youth unemployment rate of 20 per cent prevailing in Botswana.’

He said there was  need to re-invigorate BPO to absorb unemployed Information Technology (IT) graduates and form five school leavers.

He explained that BPO sector had been identified as a key sector under the economic recovery and transformation strategy.

BPO is a sector that can help transform Botswana into a knowledge based economy, as such BITC encourages the current sector player to come together to lobby government on the growth of BPO, he explained.

The sector has employed a significant number of people in South Africa and India

Mr Selelo said the forum presented an opportunity for discussion between the local BPO industry player, key stakeholders and the private sector with the aim of igniting a coordinated sector promotion, and investment attraction to converse on the enablers required for the BOP sector to grow in Botswana.

“This initiatives follows the BPO thought leadership forum which was held in 2018 and is part of the initiative of IFSC revitalisation plan.”

He said Outsource Botswana was a local BPO Industry Association with a mandate to ensure growth of the sector, lobby for policy reforms as well as create investment and job opportunities in the sector. 

Mr Selelo encouraged other sector players to join Outsource Botswana Association, as it provided a unified voice in public policy and advocacy with a collective voice to regulators, public officials, researchers and funders.

Mr Selelo added that forming association allowed business owners to get to know one another, share resources, unite on important issues and develop new tools for securing their profitability and creating an atmosphere that encourages competition and growth.

Presenting the objectives of the BOP roundtable, Mr Boikuto Bagwasi, BITC’s manager financial & business services said the forum would provide a sector update from BITC perspective and key sector promotional initiatives by BITC.

He also said the debate would introduce proposed sector reforms and incentives, and appreciate the role of the Ministry of Transport & Communication in the BPO sector.

He highlighted some of the objectives as being to appreciate promotional effort by other key stakeholders and the private sector, introduce Outsource Botswana and to form a foundation for a coordinated sector promotion effort.

Mr Moshie Ratsebe who presented on the update of BPO said the sector had the potential to contribute to economic growth and diversification particularly in the business service sub-sector.

He added that BPO should be promoted in Botswana because the country had a stable workforce and favourable labour conditions. ENDS