Mlambo-Ngcuka at the launch of the IBM Integrated Delivery Centre,
Johannesburg
13 March 2006.
Programme Director, Mteto Nyati,
Chief Executive Officer of IBM, Mark Harris,
Senior Vice-President of IBM, Joe Dzaluk,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
A few years ago President Thabo Mbeki made a call âto make the 21st Century
the African Centuryâ. To many this may have sounded like the most far fetched
dream imaginable but where there is vision and leadership you will find
progress.
In my view most of the people present here today have what we need most to
achieve an Africa 21st century.
Our collective efforts to bring about political stability on the African
continent have yielded results, democracy is being entrenched. Our focus must
now shift towards translating the political gains to the economic front.
Having put in place the necessary framework for the increased trade and
investment, we now have to ensure that Africa does indeed prosper and takes
advantage of 21st century advancements in science and technology.
Our efforts, as individual member countries of the African continent are
being directed at putting in place the necessary infrastructure for increased
economic activity in the continent. We recognise that an integral part of that
critical infrastructure is information technology (IT), which is the one
âequaliserâ that can push Africa into the 21st Century.
Africa needs expanded investments in IT.
We have always maintained that South Africaâs approach is not to isolate its
development agenda from its neighbours, and indeed the rest of the
continent.
Through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), we always seek
the bigger picture while we also tackle our responsibility at home. We need the
economies of scale none the less.
Government has introduced the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of
South Africa (AsgiSA), last year, as an intervention that elaborates on the
specific initiatives needed in order to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014.
It is aimed at driving a growing yet shared, economy. Information and
communication technology (ICT) is cross-cutting sector within AsgiSA. ICT can
accelerate growth and facilitate sharing. It is probably the one sector that
can link the First and Second Economy continuously.
The key interventions in AsgiSA are in infrastructure, which includes ICT,
sector development which include business process outsourcing and tourism,
agriculture, creative industries, human resource and second economy initiatives
focusing on small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), rural development,
youth development and universal access to basic services.
AsgiSA also takes advantage of a stable macro-economic environment, and an
economy that has grown at four percent plus in the past two years.
With AsgiSA in full steam, we are confident that between 2010 and 2014 we
will realise a growth rate of at least six percent of GDP. A challenge which we
all need to commit to is to ensure that Growth is shared.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Harris, I have been very much impressed with your
vision and the commitment of IBM to our growth agenda.
With you, we have embarked on a drive to competitively position South Africa
as a favourable destination for business process outsourcing. To deal with the
lingering telecommunications cost issue and skills shortage.
IBMâs initiative is one of the answers to several problems that remain even
as our economy grows. There are good developments as well. We now boast of Call
Centre in South Africa with 16 languages. We can only grow to greater strengths
with the initiative such as IBMâs Integrated Delivery Centre we are launching
today.
The Integrated Delivery Centre has so far created more than 500 jobs in the
past year alone. The confidence shown by the worldâs largest IT company in our
country is just the medicine we need to quieten the nerves of those who still
need convincing. IBMâs stated a plan to create a further 900 jobs in 2006
leaves us in no doubt that this country is on the right path. We need to
continue to improve the environment.
The issue of telecommunications costs is already at the top of our agenda.
In the short term we would forge ahead with the call centres in disadvantaged
areas whose telephone expenses we will subsidise initially while through the
Second National Operator (SNO), the regulations and improved infrastructure we
will bring down the cost for everybody.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am mindful of the skills challenge we face in your
industry and in our economy in general, if the growth we have spoken about is
not accompanied by an adequate skills supply it will simply not happen. We are
building a partnership with all concerned partners to respond to skills
shortage and the many unemployable graduates coming out of the system
yearly.
Joint Initiative on Priority and Scarce Skills (JIPSA) will be launched this
month as a response to the task of skills acquisition. We will need the support
of this industry for JIPSA to succeed and for the Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) Strategy to succeed.
Yours is one of the key sector for which JIPSA exists. Thank you to private
sector especially NBI for assisting with JIPSA and Business Trust for
supporting the BPO sector strategy BPO, Tourism are the key priority sectors
both need ICT and languages and have short turn around time, in that regard
many of you present here today because of your charter obligations and your
urgent needs, you must actively support JIPSA.
The thousands of unemployed graduates must be considered for call centres so
that they can learn languages and the other competencies I know IBM alone has
committed to recruiting 50 of the unemployed graduates in the database of the
Umsobomvu Youth Fund.
We highly appreciate this. We need more private sector partners to come
forward in this regard and we will continue to pursue your companies. For South
Africa to be ahead of competition in this industry we must uphold the highest
standards of corporate governance and Intellectual property legislation.
Government will enforce compliance at all levels. We will not allow fly by
nights on our shores
I am excited and encouraged by what I have seen at IBM today. I am more
convinced than ever that our goal to place South Africa on the global map as
the business process outsourcing destination of choice is within reach. I am
certain that more and more private sector partners will respond to the call. I
am glad our approach is Public Private Partnership (PPP) in this industry.
On the side of government we will ensure that we move even faster to improve
the investment climate. We are convinced the Africaâs leap frog to the 21st
century depends very much on what we do in this sector. All agreements we have
in this sector must be vigorously implemented and they are all important.
Well done IBM, may this be one of your many ground breaking success
story.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
13 March 2006
