Fagri Semaar joins Teleperformance as new MD of South Africa

Teleperformance has announced the appointment of Fagri Semaar, a former call centre agent, as its new Managing Director for South Africa.

Fagri Semaar

Teleperformance, the global leader in customer experience, employs 128,000 people in over 50 countries and has over 600 people working at its sites in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Semaar has experienced a meteoric rise through the industry since his first job as a teleresources agent in 1999.  After progressing through various leadership positions, he joined a skills development organisation as an equal partner in 2004 and subsequently opened his own project management and IT consultancy company in 2008.

“I am very excited about this opportunity; Teleperformance is a global leader in the BPO and contact centre space and I have already started to see signs of potential growth in the, financial services, utilities, public and mobile telecommunications sectors, says Semaar. “Expansions of key accounts are also on the cards and I am confident that our operation will grow substantially by the end of 2012.”

Alistair Niederer, CEO of Teleperformance UK & South Africa commented that under Fagri’s leadership, he believes that Teleperformance in South Africa will continue to go from strength to strength and that he will be instrumental in driving the business forward. “I am delighted to welcome Fagri to Teleperformance and wish him a long, happy and successful career here.”

Alongside his own business interests, Semaar has been highly influential in driving foreign investment to South Africa; first as interim CEO of industry body BPeSA Western Cape and then as Chairman, a role he still occupies.

According to Gareth Pritchard, CEO of BPeSA Western Cape, Fagri is the perfect person for the job.  “He has an intricate understanding of both the local and international BPO sector and, as Chairman of BPeSA Western Cape, continues to play a key role in assisting us in attracting foreign direct investment.”

Minister for Economic Development and Tourism in the Western Cape Alan Winde, says the announcement of Semaar as CEO is proof that with hard work and dedication anything is possible.

“In 1999, Semaar grasped an opportunity that came his way, worked extremely hard, and has now become a leading figure in our call centre industry.  His achievement will hopefully encourage other young people to believe that anything is possible if they are willing to work hard.”