Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator has been named a global trailblazer in customer experience innovation, receiving the CX Game Changer Award by Genesys.

Almost 100 nominations were received from around the world and vetted by an executive panel of judges and industry analysts.

Harambee joins an elite group of eight winners, alongside international brands Heineken and Emirates Airlines.

The award recognises the scale and capability of Harambee’s pathwaying platform which guides unemployed youth on their journey to a first job.

“Harambee used to make about 50 000 call attempts a month. Now, it makes up to 1,5-million attempts,” says Genesys CEO Paul Segre. “It has increased engagement with candidates by 32%.

“They are using Genesys technology to achieve some truly compelling business outcomes and we are fuelling their ability to change lives. It is especially powerful when you consider Harambee operates in a market with one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world,” he adds.

Harambee CIO Evan Jones comment: “Harambee has built one of South Africa’s leading contact centres – it forms a critical part of our new multi-channel solution to serve our customers – the millions of unemployed youth who have limited finances, social networks and have been locked out of the economy.

“The Game Changer award validates Harambee’s results in offering an exceptional customer experience through remarkable customer service innovation and transformation.”