Ison Inaugurates MTN Call Centre in Ibadan, Targets 20,000 Jobs

By Bankole Orimisan

GOVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has commissioned the ultra-modern customer care and skills development centre by iSON BPO, a global player in customer experience management operations, in Ibadan last week.

  The elated governor assured the organisation of the government's support while calling on other investors to avail themselves of the peaceful atmosphere and the level of infrastructural development that dot the landscape of the state to do business in the Pace Setters state.

Speaking at the event, the Group Chief Executive Officer iSON BPO, Pravin Kumar, said the company has employed about 4,000 Nigerian youths, and that 2,000 of these are in Ibadan, stressing that by March 2017, a 20,000 workforce was being targeted to reduce the unemployment rate in the state and the country in general.

  Kumar said the company is committed to investing in Nigerian infrastructure as well as human capacity development with the long-term benefits of creating large-scale employment and engendering indirect local employment opportunities as well.

  Kumar pointed out that due to its effective management of Airtel's Call Centre, which is based in Ibadan that MTN Nigeria also decided to outsource its Call Centre operation to iSON. He said the commissioned facility has the latest technology and is comparable to any of its contemporary worldwide and is one of the four new call centres that iSON is setting up in Nigeria, namely Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ilorin and Kano.

"With these centres, iSON is assisting in alleviating the current spate of unemployment in Nigeria, as well as contributing towards valuable resource and capacity development in the country.

   "As part of our core strategy, we have invested in developing state of art infrastructure and empowering local talent to foster a better future for the African continent.

   "We already have a call centre here in Ibadan which started with 1,000 employees in February, 2013 and now has around 1,200 employees. We made commitment with the governor when he inaugurated our first facility that if it does well, we will double our capacity in Ibadan.