Evaluation of the Business Process Incentive Scheme
The Business Process Services (BPS) incentive scheme was launched by the Department of Trade and Industry (the DTI) in 2011 to enhance and contribute to South Africa's value proposition as a world-class outsourcing destination for international investors and service providers.
The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), as part of its mandate under the National Evaluation Plan Framework (NEPF), and in partnership with the DTI, issued a terms of reference (TOR) in August 2012 to undertake an implementation evaluation of the BPS incentive scheme. Its purpose was to investigate the extent to which the scheme was achieving its objectives of job creation and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). The evaluation covered the scheme from its inception in January 2011 until December 2012.
Genesis developed a comprehensive evaluation framework based on the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria to guide the evaluation.
The evaluation included interviews with those running projects on the scheme, key government officials and a review of the DTI's MIS data. The evaluation found that the incentive scheme was contributing to job creation and attracting investors to South Africa. However, the evaluation made a number of recommendations for improvements. The key recommendations included retaining South Africa’s cost competitiveness, implementing a graded incentive scheme based on the company’s service offering and extending the duration of the scheme from three years to five years.
The BPS programme was revised, based on the recommendations given by Genesis and re-launched in London by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, on 14 October 2014. By that time, six companies had already been approved under the new programme. The report’s recommendations were endorsed by the cabinet on 11 February 2015. The amended incentive-scheme guidelines were published in January 2015, taking into account each of the recommendations. Genesis was subsequently awarded a National Evaluation Plan award for the evaluation. These awards are made on the basis of an evaluation “whose evidence contributed towards improving government performance, or which were assessed to be of good quality and have a potential to be instrumental in improving government performance”.
Download the journal article: African Evaluation Journal, 2014