In 2010, Amazon set up a call centre in Cape Town to service British, American and German clients. It was quite cool, you know, being an essential part of an international, first-world-run industry. That is, until you learn the real reason they came here.

Apparently, South African’s have a “Premium English voice quality”, which Amazon sees as ideal for dealing with their UK and US-based customers.

“Most customers think I’m in Britain and that I’m actually British,” said Gershwin Osman (23) who handles 20 to 35 calls a day and fine tunes his accent by listening to Premiere League football commentary.

Osman is just one of about 2,500 people employed in South Africa by WNS Holdings, a Mumbai-based back-office services provider. They were lured to our shores by various government incentives, tumbling communications costs and a pool of workers whose accents “suit the UK market.”

CEO, Keshav Murugesh said:

When we look at the location, we look at the talent, the seriousness of the government to work with us to build the business and the overall geopolitical situation. We are looking to branch out in South Africa. The English premium voice quality works extremely well.

[Source : Mail & Guardian]