Patricia de Lille, Trevor Manuel & Zondwa Mandela To Welcome International Investors To The GSA Global Sourcing Summit & Awards In Cape Town
Patricia de Lille; Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, Trevor Manuel; former Minister of Finance and Special Investment Envoy of South Africa’s President, and Zondwa Mandela have been billed to address the maiden edition of the GSA Global Sourcing Summit and Awards, in collaboration with BPESA.
The conference which is scheduled to take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from the 1st to the 2nd of October is expected to feature some of the ground-breaking case studies and influential speakers from around the world. The event is expected to bring together a number of delegates who will be brainstorming on some of the very latest trends and predictions as they concern today’s organizations. The conference will be looking to provide useful insights into such areas of interest as customer experience, robotics process automation, managing outsourcing relationships, digital transformation, innovation, as well as exit management.
The Summit which is slated to last for two days will draw to a close with an awards ceremony where South Africa is in the running for the “Global Destination of the Year” award, having been shortlisted in that award category.
Proceedings at the event are expected to be kicked off by a welcome address directed at international investors like the BBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Zurich Insurance, as well as local business organisations, which will be delivered by Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille.
As culled from a press statement, Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille is quoted as saying; “The City of Cape Town is delighted that the Global Sourcing Association is bringing the Global Sourcing Summit to Cape Town in October. Cape Town has a burgeoning and versatile BPO sector and continues to attract business from top firms across Europe, the United States, and Australia. Cape Town presents a number of opportunities and advantages to BPO businesses locating in the city, including among others: a rich talent pool with a predominantly English-speaking workforce – which are able to engage with international clients; as well as good air connectivity. Cape Town is also in the same time zone as Europe, ensuring that working hours overlap; and the city has a natural appeal, with its beaches and mountains providing for a quality enhanced lifestyle.”
Trevor Manual is also expected to deliver a keynote speech at the event. Commenting with regard to the development, the former Minister of Finance remarked; “New jobs are the quickest and most sustainable way to improve social mobility and take young South Africans out of poverty and into prosperity. The GSA Global Sourcing Summit and Awards in partnership with BPESA brings a commitment to creating 1000 new jobs in South Africa, and I am delighted to be a part of it.”
Zondwa Mandela will be standing in for Mandela Legacy at the event, where she is expected to enlighten the audience on how the organisation seeks to improve access to education, advance women’s rights and create employment.
The Global Sourcing Association is the industry association and professional body for the global sourcing industry, and the home of the Global Sourcing Standard, a world first for the provision of a portfolio of best practice methodologies and accreditation programmes supported by both buyers and suppliers of sourcing. Their partners, BPESA, is a non-profit industry association for the BPO sector in South Africa. The organisation’s core focus areas are attracting foreign investment, facilitating job creation, developing skills and creating an enabling environment for companies and individuals operating in the sector.
The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector can be thought to be experiencing massive growth in South Africa with almost 40,000 people, mostly between the ages of 18-30, employed. Although the majority of roles in the BPO sector are Contact Centre Agents, there are other career opportunities in Operations, HR/Training, Sales & Marketing, Workforce Management, Finance, Technical/IT, Administration and Facilities Management.
