IN a country rife with unemployment, a new sector has emerged employing artificial intelligence and smart technology to connect the employer with potential employees and impacting global business services.

This, and many other avenues of how South Africa could navigate the uncertain global environment, were top of the agenda at the three-day BPESA GBS and BPO Conference at the Durban ICC from Monday to Wednesday. The conference was attended by international delegates, investors, and thought leaders including Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister Zuko Godlimpi and the chairperson of the Economic Development and Planning Committee for the eThekwini Municipality, Thembo Ntuli.

Business Process Enabling SA (BPESA) CEO Reshni Singh said among the aims of the conference was to explore the power of IMPACT, which was the theme of the conference. “The theme of IMPACT reflects a collective purpose of how to harness innovation, not as an abstract idea but as a tool to transform lives and unlock potential,” said Singh.

“The GBS (Global Business Services) Investor conference provides a vital platform for robust dialogue among policy-makers and industry players on enhancing sector resilience, attracting foreign direct investment, and driving inclusive job creation, especially for South Africa’s youth.”

BPESA is a non-profit company that aims to create 500 000 jobs by 2030 in SA. Singh said by bringing key role-players and through their data-free SAYouth.mobi, they are opening up a platform of opportunities.

Also Read: Durban aims to ride global wave at AI summit

“We have over five million registered unemployed young people on SAYouth.mobi which means that the situation is dire. This indicates that there a lot of unemployed young people in South Africa,” said Singh. “As a sector we have been able to support almost 174 000 to date from the time we started to prioritise the sector in 2007. But none of this would be possible without innovation and partnership.”

Singh’s sentiments were echoed by Godlimpi who was encouraged by the growth of the sector and young people leading the initiative. He said, “In this shifting environment, countries that will lead are those that can combine digital capability with human empathy, technological sophistication with social impact and efficiency. South Africa is well positioned to lead in this new phase.”

He said the GBS sector growth of over 170 000 jobs generated over $2.7b in export revenue. This was bolstered by people diversifying and shifting towards the digital platforms to promote themselves and market their products.

Praising the ingenuity Godlimpi said, “Diversification means expanding beyond contact-centre operation into digital services, data analytics, cloud engineering, creative design and knowledge-based outsourcing. These are the areas that will define competitiveness in the era of artificial intelligence and automation.”

For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.

Click to subscribe to our newsletter – here