IFSC’s outsourcing concept could create employment

Botswana International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) chief executive officer Alan Boshwaen, has said that the Centre’s concept of global outsourcing has the capability of creating more than 15,000 jobs within five years for Batswana holding Form Five to post graduate level qualifications.

IFSC has taken the outsourcing concept on board because it has the potential to create sustainable employment opportunities for unemployed and qualified Batswana falling under the academic bracket.

The initiative will invariably complement government’s substantial investment in education over the years especially at the tertiary level to impart relevant skills on Batswana that will render them more competitive in the job market.

Addressing participants at the 2004 IFSC Career Fair in Gaborone last week, Boshwaen said; “The global phenomenon of outsourcing, defined by the international firm Accenture, as a contracting firm with an internal or external organisation to take primary responsibility for providing a business process or function, has been of particular interest to IFSC. We believe it can and will play an increasingly important role in creating sustainable job opportunities for Batswana, who hold a wide range of basic qualifications ranging from Form Five school leavers to those with more specialised professional post graduate level.

“This phenomenon of outsourcing is most prevalent in the international financial services sector. According to a recent Accenture consultancy report, the concept has the potential to create more than 15,000 jobs in the next five years, just by capturing 1.0 per cent of the global market for outsourced jobs in the financial sector.

To bring this concept to fruition, it calls for a co-ordinated and concerted drive by a range of role players that include government, related parastatals and agencies, the business community as well as the academic and stakeholder community. And one of the key factors for success will lie in our human resources and their ability to compete at the regional and global level.”

To give it the much-needed mileage, the Career Fair has been declared an annual event that will empower Batswana with the preparedness to compete effectively on the global market in the provision of services such as Internet Communication Technology (ICT) and financial services to the regional and global communities.

“The key distinguishing features about these services is that apart from the domestic market, IFSC is now serving the regional and global markets. These developments raise challenges to our business operations, since it has become crucial that we significantly raise the bar, as far as customer service ethos and basic business capability is concerned to meet our expectations. This is a concern that cuts beyond the realms of IFSC and its accredited companies since it applies to the whole financial sector and other growth industries that include tourism, where we have to operate in a direct interface with the world,” the CEO said.

The 2004 Career Fair also launched the IFSC Curriculum Vitae (CV) Database, a first in the country’s history, where it invites graduates and professional living in Botswana or abroad to submit their CVs to IFSC’s websites: www.ifsc.co.bw or www.Botswana IFSC.com.

He said: “All graduates and professionals in Botswana and Batswana around the world, whether in Australia, South Africa, the UK or US, to name a few countries are invited to submit their CVs so that this information becomes accessible in a secure and confidential platform to interested employers or those contemplating setting up operations under the IFSC banner.

We are confident that many wish to partake in opportunities offered by this new initiative and return home. One does not have to be in Johannesburg, Sydney or London to provide skills and services to the global community.

The launch of IFSC database complements the Ministry of Education (MoE) higher per capita expenditure on education and training of around 25 per cent or P3.98 billion of the 2004/2005 fiscal budget. Due to the unwavering commitment the MoE expenditure has raised literacy levels to about 80 per cent and provided Batswana with equitable access to education and training. The majority of the estimated 28,000 Batswana currently placed in tertiary institutions within and outside Botswana will benefit from the launch of this database, since they will join the queue for the job market.

The installation of the IFSC database was a result of inputs from the 2004 Employer Opinion Botswana Institute of Development and Policy Analysis (BIDPA) Survey that identified limited skills and low productivity, as inherent weaknesses among job seekers. Furthermore, interviews with young professionals, parents and companies were instrumental to the launch of this new forum.