Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) has emerged as the fastest growing region in South Africa for the global business services sector, following Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
This is according to data from the municipality's Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture (EDTA) Directorate.
NMBM Member of the Mayoral Committee for the EDTA, Bassie Kamana, on Monday said she was encouraged by the rapid growth of the global business services sector (call centre services) within the city.
In collaboration with Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), NMBM recently hosted a stakeholder engagement session in Newton Park, Gqeberha.
BPESA is a leading association that represents global business services and business process outsourcing companies in South Africa. The association’s key objectives include positioning South Africa as a prime destination for offshoring, driving local job creation, and promoting excellence in service delivery within the global business services sector.
BPESA partners with the private sector, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), and municipalities to promote South Africa's capabilities, empower youth through training and job creation, and strengthen the industry’s ability to deliver high quality services.
The purpose of the engagement session was to create a collaborative platform for sector stakeholders to share experiences, review their growth since establishing operations in Nelson Mandela Bay, and explore future opportunities for expanding the industry within the region.
The session also highlighted the support available from government and its entities to further develop the sector.
Participants included representatives from the Coega Special Economic Zone, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, the dtic, Harambe Youth Accelerator, and various global business services companies.
Prominent players in the industry that have already established operations in Nelson Mandela Bay include Discovery Health, ISON, Startek, Dastile Wealth Insure, Outworks and Teleperformance. Teleperformance, which opened its office in late 2024, has already created over 500 jobs for young people in the city.
Addressing the session, Kamana highlighted the growing investments in the sector, noting that over 3 000 jobs have been created for youth with secondary and tertiary education.
"Working with our partners to mobilise resources and create a conducive environment for Nelson Mandela Bay to be a destination of choice is starting to pay off. We can already see ourselves being a major player among the major three cities that are leading in this sector, [and] that alone is encouraging news.
“What encourages [me the] most is the fact that this sector is able to offer jobs to youth, an area that we as the metro we are working around the clock to come up with solutions to,” Kamana said.
Teleperformance Vice President, Leanne Felix, expressed optimism about the future growth of the industry in Nelson Mandela Bay, and even greater expansion in the next five years.
Felix acknowledged the partnership the company has with NMBM.
“This partnership makes it easier for us to mobilise resources and market the city and its talent. The international industry is beginning to show interest in the talent, commitment and skills base we have here in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“We just need to do more in to showcase our capabilities as the Eastern Cape and open up about the support and incentives that are available to support the industry. When the demand came last year for the company to expand our operations from Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay became an obvious choice. The support we have received from the metro has been amazing,” Felix said. – SAnews.gov.za
