South African Business is an annual guide to business and investment in South Africa. Published by Global Africa Network Media in Cape Town, the 2016 edition is in its fourth year of publication.
The publication provides up-to-date information and analyses of the country's key economic sectors, as well as detailed economic overviews of each of the nine provinces in South Africa.
OVERVIEW Regional
OVERVIEW Regional overview: Western Cape One of the world’s premier tourism meccas, and a province renowned for its exquisite natural splendours, the Western Cape is home to a booming tourism market, diverse manufacturing, world-class infrastructure and Africa’s largest wine exporter. Positive future When assessing what the Western Cape has achieved over the past years, Wesgro CEO Tim Harris is positive about its future. The province, for starters, has performed well on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) front, he says. “When it comes to FDI, we are doing quite well. Since 2010, the Western Cape brought in R7 billion, of which the bulk has gone to the services, technology, and communications industries,” Harris explains. “Apart from contributing to the provincial economy, these FDI projects have created 4 000 permanent jobs for instance in the manufacturing sector, as well as countless indirect jobs.” Wesgro figures show that the United Kingdom and the United States were responsible for the bulk of the FDI inflows into the Western Cape, with shares of respectively 26% and 23%. Other major investors were The Netherlands (8%), Germany (7%) and France (5%). A country that is gaining momentum in the Western Cape on the FDI front is China, with Hisense being one of the most important investors. This Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics and household appliances opened a 25 200m 2 factory in Atlantis – an impoverished area some 40km outside of Cape Town, on the West Coast. This town used to be a thriving manufacturing hub until the sector started to crumble. leading to high levels of unemployment. Resurrecting Atlantis Harris adds that the future for Atlantis is set to change, and that Hisense is just the beginning, as Atlantis is in the process of being established as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with a specific focus on manufacturing and renewable energy. Another important SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016 188
GENERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES 10.8% PERSONAL SERVICES 6% FINANCE, REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS SERVICES 31% TRANSPORT, STORAGE & COMMUNICATION 9.1% WHOLESALE, RETAIL, MOTOR TRADE, CATERING & ACCOMMODATION 17% CONSTRUCTION 5% ELECTRICITY, GAS & WATER 2% MANUFACTURING 15% MINING & QUARRYING .1% AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & FISHING 4% OVERVIEW Western Cape sector contribution. SOURCE: STATS SA company that has settled down in the area is Gestamp Renewable Industries (GRI), a Spanish renewable energy firm which recently opened a new wind tower factory there. “Atlantis has some real benefits. There used to be an industrial base there, which over the past 20 years eroded,” Harris says. “The infrastructure and the sites are still there, and there is transport infrastructure too which connects Atlantis to the port of Saldana and the city. The MyCiti busses go there too, making it a well-connected space that is ready to go.” South Africa’s retail hub It doesn’t stop here. Many of South Africa’s and Africa’s largest retailers have their offices in and around Cape Town, including Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Clicks, and Woolworths. The same counts for start-ups, emerging businesses, and tech companies. Harris: “Cape Town is the home of some very exciting newcomers such as Takealot and Yuppiechef, which are among some of South Africa’s most successful businesses. The question is what makes the Western Cape the favourable business that it apparently is? “Businesses like it here because of our world-class infrastructure, and the fact that Cape Town, the central region in particular, simply works,” Harris says. “Secondly, the companies we have dealt with, have told us that it is easier to do business in the Western Cape and Cape Town than, for instance, in Johannesburg. This is an important consideration for any business owner who wants to settle down in South Africa.” Going green The province prides itself on ‘green living’. The provincial government marked the one-year anniversary of the ‘110% Green’ initiative in June 2013. Premier Helen Zille described the campaign as making a paradigm shift to connect environmental preservation and economic growth. Projects include installing solar-panel heating systems, recycling and promoting carbonneutral manufacturing. Companies that are on board with this initiative include Eskom, Juwi, Nedbank Group, Vineyard Hotel and Woolworths. A 90MW wind farm near Wolseley was recently given the goahead. This joins a demonstrative wind farm in Darling (5MW) and the Sere Wind Farm still under construction, which will produce a proposed 100MW, both in the Western Cape. WESTERN CAPE www.westerncape.gov.za Capital Population Area Premier Cape Town 6 200 100 (2015) 129 462km 2 Helen Zille (DA) Languages Afrikaans, isiXhosa, English 189 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016
