Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said that grants worth R157.76-million had been approved as part of the business process outsourcing incentive scheme.

The grants would be disbursed to ten projects over the next three years and would create more than 11 000 jobs, the Minister said in response to a written Parliamentary question in the National Council of Provinces.

“The incentives will be used to offset expenditure in order to make applicants more globally competitive, when servicing offshore clients. The grants cover only a portion of the operational costs related to the project. Disbursements are not made upfront but are paid only after confirmation that jobs have been created,” Davies explained.

He added that the jobs created by the beneficiaries have to be in place for a minimum of three years.

“This implies that if a company creates additional employment at the end of the third year it will have to retain all jobs over a period of five years. There are no further restrictions preventing companies from ceasing operations after the incentive period.”

Companies that would be receiving the grants include Old Mutual Assurance, Amicorp South Africa, Amazon Development Centre, First Call Centre Solutions and Call Centre International.