6 MESSAGE WELCOME TO
6 MESSAGE WELCOME TO NAMAKWA DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY Investments can create jobs and spark economic reforms, writes Municipal Manager Sydney Adams. We welcome you to the biggest district municipality in the country, Namakwa District Municipality. We invite you to explore the investment opportunities as envisaged within the boundaries of the district. The theme for the Investment Conference, “Namakwa, the new investment frontier for SADC”, clearly illustrates our readiness for seizing the opportunities and our presentation of this platform will enable engagement and investment. Your presence and participation at this conference is a clear demonstration that Namakwa continues to be an attractive investment destination. We are on a journey to rebuild our region and refuse to be daunted by the challenges we face. We therefore align ourselves with the vision of a modern, growing and successful Northern Cape. We remain convinced that Namakwa is an investment destination with significant untapped potential, with diverse cultures and a rich heritage which should not be ignored when investment expectations are announced. We have learned that investment decisions can take several years but we are confident that it will soon reach fruition and result in substantial investment for the region and a productive economy. The impact of investments we are looking for must be able to acknowledge the history of our local people, create sustainable jobs and to tackle poverty and inequality. The platform has been laid for business processes to start up in education, tourism, agriculture, energy, green hydrogen, construction, mining, rail and deepsea port development, but also to implement fundamental economic reforms. As local government our role is to set up an enabling environment which can regulate municipal support and partnership for investors and businesses to thrive and to ensure improved service delivery to our communities. Our local people ought to benefit from any investment in Namakwa and with your support and partnerships we can realise more growth, offer more opportunities and create even more jobs. We are looking forward to the investment pledges that will transpire throughout the deliberations of this Namakwa Investment Conference offered by Namakwa District Municipality. The Isibindi Safe Park that was built with the help of the Loeriesfontein Wind Farm promoted local enterprise and created jobs. Municipal Manager Sydney Adams
DISTRICT ECONOMY INFRASTRUCTURE AND MAIN SECTORS Namakwa District Municipality traverses two key transport and logistics corridors. The Namakwa District Municipality is ideally placed to take advantage of provincial and national efforts to create and grow the green hydrogen economy, while welcoming new investors in the mining sector and continuing to create new offerings for visiting tourists. MAIN ECONOMIC SECTORS While mining has received significant boosts in recent years with investments from India (Vedanta Zinc International) and local investors (Okiep copper mining), agriculture continues to be a significant export earner and creator of employment. Sheep and goats thrive in the district and the Kalahari Kid Corporation (KKC) is working to help emerging farmers commercialise their operations. A joint initiative between commercial promoters and the Northern Cape government, the programme assists farmers get their products up to export standard. Other large and consequential investments have created a wholly new sector in the regional economy, renewable energy. Large wind and solar farms dot the landscape, making use of the vast open spaces that occur in the area, together with good wind and solar resources. INFRASTRUCTURE A key plank in the long-term strategic economic planning for the Northern Cape and South Africa is to establish an Industrial Corridor that plays a role in boosting the transition to renewable energy. At the centre of this plan is the vast new mining complex already operating but also ramping up production in the Khai-Ma Local Municipality. Vedanta Zinc International’s mine and processing operations are expected to play a catalytic role in boosting other developments along the intended corridor. The mine will also anchor the development of the Namakwa Special Economic Zone, a hub of industry and manufacturing that is set to become a major component of the Northern Cape’s economic infrastructure. To the far west of the corridor, green hydrogen production and a deepsea port for export of hydrogen and minerals is envisaged. The N14 highway and existing railway lines comprise the existing infrastructure on which further developments will be built. At the eastern end of the corridor (in the Northern Cape) lie the great manganese and iron-ore mines which will support the development of the Kathu Industrial Park. Beyond that lie the platinum resources of the Limpopo Province which could also possibly be transported along this route. The Sishen-Saldanha rail line currently transports huge amounts of raw minerals from the Northern Cape to the Western Cape port, from whence it is exported. The creation of a deepsea port in the Northern Cape would conceivably cut transport costs considerably. The other national highway that cuts through the Namakwa District Municipality is the N7, the road that allows goods and travellers to travel directly from Cape Town to Windhoek, Namibia’s capital city. The excellent condition of the road allows for easy travelling and it is a busy artery which serves many sectors. The Okiep campus of the Northern Cape Rural TVET College has 580 students and accommodation facilities for 100 students. The Skills Development and Trade Test Centre offers courses for students to train to be electricians, boilermakers, fitters and turners, welders and diesel mechanics.
