Revamping SA initiative to reduce firms’ operating costs

Genesis Analytics was commissioned by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) to benchmark South Africa’s Global Business Services (GBS) Incentive Programme against global peers and advise on its revision.

The purpose of the study was to guide policy revisions, ensuring that incentives not only attract and retain investment but also contribute to the sustainable growth of the GBS sector in alignment with South Africa’s economic and development goals.

The GBS sector is one of South Africa’s fastest-growing export sectors with significant employment potential. A key selling point of South Africa’s GBS sector is the support provided by the dtic through the GBS Incentive Programme, which helps operators to reduce operating costs and offer more competitive prices on the global market.

The study included benchmarking the cost competitiveness of South Africa’s GBS sector versus global competitors and measuring the impact of the programme on South Africa’s competitiveness. Genesis conducted a cost-benefit analysis of various reform options for the next iteration of the incentive, informed by engagements with industry stakeholders.