Explore 6 Reasons Why South Africa Should Be Your eLearning Provider

Have you considered offshoring your content development? South Africa could be an option!

I was born and raised in Germany. Over 10 years ago, I moved to South Africa and I am still amazed by what this country has to offer. The diverse population and environment are inspiring. Although there are plenty of challenges, it is incredible to see the positivity and creativity that exists despite this. 

For the past eight years, I have worked in the private education sector and closely watched the transformation from traditional face-to-face delivery to innovative new opportunities for blended and online learning. The EdTech industry is growing at an immense speed and the amount of freely available content is incredible. But from time to time, off-the-shelf content just isn’t enough to meet the learner’s needs. To create meaningful and effective learning experiences, it is important to have customised content that has been developed by professionals.

But what if finding a professional content developer in your country is too expensive? You can always offshore or outsource the development to another country! South Africa has always been a well-known creative media hub for movie production, advertising and photoshoots. Agencies like WESGRO have started to proactively promote Cape Town and the Western Cape province as a location for quality services in the EdTech and online learning industry.

In recent years, South Africa has also become an excellent place for offshoring, outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) opportunities. In 2021, South Africa has been ranked the number one global BPO location in the world, according to the Annual Fort Office BPO Omnibus Survey. The country even trumped India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Poland, Egypt, and Northern Ireland. Global players like Amazon are committing to South Africa for the long term. For example, Amazon committed to investing over USD 260 million in a new South African office. But why is this the case?

1. Cost-saving eLearning

According to the McKinsey Location Readiness Index, BPO providers can offer their services approximately 11% lower than the global average. This includes salaries and facility, IT and general administrative costs.

BPESA’s research has even shown a possible 40 - 45% cost saving compared to Australia, the UK and the US.

2. Entrepreneurial spirit of Cape Town

South Africans are known for their entrepreneurial spirit. It is embedded in the national identity to find income opportunities and think outside of the box.  

3. Skilled and young English-speaking workforce

These are just a few of the benefits that come with the South African workforce:

• The talent is fluent English-speaking with neutral accents and high empathy levels.
• There is a cultural affinity with the UK, Australia, New Zealand and, increasingly, the US and Canada.
• Within South Africa's population, there is a large talent pool that is young, trainable and tech-savvy.
• There are many foreign-speaking individuals who can work within the Dutch, German, French and Italian markets.

4. Geographical location

Being based on the GMT +2 puts South Africa in the perfect position to serve the EU, US and Australian markets. This is because they are in the same or similar time zones to Europe, and there is the opportunity for 24/7 customer support timelines for the US and Australian markets. 

5. Strengthening ICT and digital capabilities

South Africa has among the best ICT infrastructures in Africa. South Africa was ranked first in the World Economic Forum report in regards to Technology Readiness for the Digital Revolution in Africa in 2019.

6. Sizeable regional and domestic market opportunity

South Africa can serve as a gateway for other countries into the African continent. There is a large domestic market with increasing demand across telecom, BFSI, and retail industries. The country is seeing a growing demand for digital solutions.

Takeaway

South Africa, in my opinion, is an ideal option when looking to get custom eLearning content designed and developed for impactful learning.

There are a number of great companies here, doing amazing work, including Valenture Institute, GetSmarter (now 2U), Hubble Studios, Elevate Learning, and many more. Or better yet, Groundflr — a team of creative and driven individuals who want to contribute to the change in the learning industry.