City confirms training programme in collaboration with the National Skills Fund

STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AND ASSET MANAGEMENT, ALDERMAN JAMES VOS

Today at the launch of the new Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Academy, I had the pleasure of confirming that the Cape Skills and Accelerator Employment project, in conjunction with the National Skills Fund (NSF), Provincial Government, CapeBPO and the private sector, has now been finalised. I was joined by MEC David Maynier and officials from the City’s Enterprise and Investment Department.

The Cape Skills and Accelerator Employment project will create over 3 000 employment opportunities for marginalised youth and women in the BPO sector. The City of Cape Town will be contributing R55 million over the next three years for jobs training and placement in call centre companies, which has led to the launch of this academy today.

I am happy to have worked closely with the Department of Trade and Industry and the NSF to ensure this project was approved by full Council.

We fund CapeBPO as a Strategic Business Partner (SBP) to grow the industry. I am immensely proud that this partnership has resulted in the addition of 2 633 additional jobs in the last three months alone, despite the COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Over the last three years, I have motivated for and succeeded in securing just over R25 million in funding for CapeBPO, which helped create more than 5 000 new jobs at the same time.

For our city to compete globally and achieve inclusive socio-economic growth, we must continue to invest in skills and training for the sectors that are poised for substantial growth.

The City focuses on catalytic sectors that have great potential for investment in the city and which create job opportunities for residents. That is why, together with the officials in the Enterprise and Investment Department, I work very closely with the local call centre industry to help them expand and have personally travelled to Europe and North America to help persuade call centre companies to come to Cape Town.

Approximately 60 000 young people currently work in the BPO/contact centre sector and in the past five years, about 35 000 additional job opportunities have been created to service the international community.

Through this new Cape Skills and Employment Accelerator Project as well and our SBPs, the department, with my support, will make sure that key sectors have the skills pipelines they need to drive demand for their products and ultimately create employment opportunities for our residents.