Agriculture and agribusiness is one of the most important sectors in the Western Cape, and involves all the different activities that link the entire value chain from the farm/forest/fishery to the consumer. This includes inputs, production, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural, forestry and fishing products. Read more
The Province of the Western Cape and Cape Town as a global destination city for tourism has grown in popularity over the past decade. This is largely due to the efforts of organisations such as Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited. The Western Cape is the main leisure tourism destination in South Africa and is home to the majority of the top tourist attractions in South Africa. Read more
The boatbuilding sector is a producer of a range of high quality boats, and is a well-established and important contributor to the regional economy of the Western Cape. The industry is characterised by a number of small entrepreneurs and dominated by a few large companies – 56% of the workforce is employed by the largest four companies. South Africa is a recognised producer of high-value luxury yachts, with the Western Cape as the recognised hub of the industry in the country. Read more
Collaboration between companies and external service providers who are offsite and increasingly offshore have increased rapidly with the universal use of email and the availability of high bandwith and web-based connections. This has given birth to a rapidly expanding business process outsourcing and offshoring (BPO&O). Read more
In 2008, it was estimated that the global market for the fast growing creative industries was USD 1.3 trillion – on a comparative level to the global automotive industry. The main sectors comprising the creative industry include graphic design, advertising, film, video and animation, music, performing arts etc. This exciting sector in the Western Cape and Cape Town is a melting pot of creativity, attracting foreign and local investors and merging international trends with local creative culture. Read more
Cape Town has a sophisticated and well-established ICT and electronics sector, with many of its approximately 1,500 companies competing successfully in global markets. The ICT sector in the Western Cape is dominated by small companies providing ICT services including software development, web development and consulting. Read more
Over the past decade, the development of South Africa’s oil and gas resources and the rapid growth of upstream opportunities in West Africa have led to an accelerated growth in upstream markets and there is now a significant oil and gas supplier base in South Africa. Read more
In terms of renewable energy, the Western Cape is considered a leader in the renewable energy sector, being the first province to have a Sustainable Energy Strategy and a Policy for Solar Water Heaters in place. To ease the strain on energy demand currently, the province has set itself renewable energy targets of 15% by 2014.Read more
