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North West Business 2019 edition

  • Text
  • Africa
  • Africa
  • Minerals
  • Horticulture
  • Culture
  • Training
  • Healthcare
  • Construction
  • Sectors
  • Water
  • Strategy
  • Agriculture
  • Energy
  • Projects
  • Business
  • Investment
  • Economy
  • Development
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The 2019 edition of North West Business is the ninth issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2009, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the North West Province. North West Business includes news and analysis of the most important sectors, with a regional overview covering the strategic thinking behind plans to attract investment into the province. Best known for its platinum mines, grain and livestock farming and tourism, the province is making a concerted effort to bolster its manufacturing capacity. Updated information on the North West is also available through our monthly e-newsletter, which you can subscribe to at www.globalafricanetwork.com, in addition to our complementary business-to-business titles that cover all nine provinces as well as our flagship South African Business title.

OVERVIEW Manufacturing

OVERVIEW Manufacturing Chemical processing could be a new sector. TA provincial Integrated Manufacturing Strategy has been compiled. One of the report's findings was that because of North West’s strategic location near to the industrial hub of Gauteng and its low input costs and easy access to busy trade routes, it should make the development of the chemical processing sector a good proposition for investors. The province also has easy access to natural resources, especially with regard to the ingredients necessary for the manufacture of phosphate and nitrogen-based fertilisers. A sector strategy for clothing and textile manufacturing is also being developed. Manufacturing’s share of the Growth Value Add (GVA) of the province is 5%. The province already has a strong suite in automotive components and tyres (Brits), mining equipment and engineering (Klerksdorp) and food and beverages (Potchefstroom). The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is doing pilot projects in two villages to find out if there are commercial opportunities for the growing and making of Motlopi coffee. Motlopi coffee is made from roasting the roots of a Shepherd’s tree (or Motlopi). Land has been set aside for the project. Rustenburg has a mixture of enterprises, the biggest of which are mining-related smelters. Production of non-metallic mineral products is concentrated around Lichtenburg and Mahikeng (cement), and Rustenburg (stone). Tough Metals Toys factory and Totpak are located in Ventersdorp. As one of the country’s biggest producers of livestock, hides for car seats for the province’s automotive industry could profitably be sourced locally. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) sometimes gives loans to help businesses weather bad times; at other times it extends loans (sometimes in exchange for equity) to new enterprises in new sectors. It is active in the North West in a wide range of sectors, including automotive. ONLINE RESOURCES Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC): www.aidc.co.za Centre for Advanced Manufacturing: www.cfam.co.za National Department of Trade and Industry: www.dti.gov.za North West Development Corporation: www.nwdc.co.za SECTOR INSIGHT Bridgestone’s Brits factory employs more than 850 people. SOS Tie & Die is a manufacturer of precision pressings, components and press tools, based in Brits close to Tshwane's Rosslyn automotive hub. Also in Brits are wire-harness manufacturer Pasdec Automotive Technologies, Bosch, and Dubigeon Body and Coach. Bridgestone’s factory is one of only four in the world that produces ‘"unflat" tyres. About 850 people are employed at the plant. The Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (CFAM) at North West University specialises in extruder technology. RCL Foods (previously Rainbow Chickens) has a large processing plant at Rustenburg. Dairybelle (Bloemhof ) and Clover (Lichtenburg) have cheese factories in the province. Water from the Schoonspruit Eye near Ventersdorp supplied South Africa’s first bottled water. Nestlé has purchased the rights to this water source. Nestlé’s soy-creamer processing plant is located in Potchefstroom. About 30% of the country’s grain and oil-seed crop pass through Senwes silos every year. Sasko operates a white-maize mill in Klerksdorp. The SAB Rosslyn Brewery supplies the North West with most of its beer. NORTH WEST BUSINESS 2019 42

Education and training OVERVIEW A new programme is training plumbers. South Africa’s educational institutions are being encouraged to focus on artisan skills. At the moment, artisans are trained in the country every year: the National Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) wants that figure to be 30 000 by 2026. The first 164 graduates of a joint programme of the North West Department of Economy and Enterprise Development and the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) have received their certificates in plumbing. The three-year apprenticeship is focussed on women and youth. Technical Vocational and Educational Training colleges teach skills that are relevant to the workplace. North West has three TVET colleges with several campuses each. Vuselela TVET College has its headquarters in Klerksdorp, where there is also an accredited trade test centre. There are a further four campuses: Jouberton Centre for Engineering Studies; Matlosana Campus; Potchefstroom Centre for ICT and Taung Campus. Orbit TVET College has three sites, Rustenburg, Mankwe and Brits with about 15 000 students overall. The Rustenburg campus of Orbit College hosts a Microsoft IT Academy while the Mankwe campus offers automotive training, the result of a partnership between the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA (MerSETA), Lelethu Training and Ford South Africa. Orbit TVET College also hosts an electronics academy courtesy of sponsor Samsung Electronics. Located on the Mankwe campus, and in partnership with MerSETA, the academy has everything a trainee technician might want. The Taung Agricultural College is accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) to offer the NQF level 6 Diploma in Agriculture specialising in Irrigation Technology. ONLINE RESOURCES Mining Qualifications Authority: www.mqa.org.za North West Department of Education and Sport Development: www.nwdesd.gov.za North-West University: www.nwu.ac.za SECTOR INSIGHT North West has three TVET colleges. The North-West University and its researchers are leaders in many fields, including astrophysics, tourism, solar energy and extruder technology. Among the research entities at NWU, there are five chairs allocated by the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI): Astrophysics and Space Physics, Coal Research, Biofuels and other clean alternative fuels, Nuclear Engineering and Early Detection and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Africa. The Engineering Faculty’s partnerships include Sasol, Eskom, Denel Aviation, Telkom and Sappi. North-West University (NWU) has more than 65 000 students, with about 26 000 studying by correspondence. The university's main campus is at Potchefstroom with satellite campuses at Mmabatho and Vanderbijlpark. The pharmaceutical faculty at the Potchefstroom campus of the North-West University is regarded as a national leader. The University of South Africa (Unisa) has three branches in North West, at Rustenburg, Potchefstroom and Mmabatho. 43 NORTH WEST BUSINESS 2019

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