Why invest in the Western Cape

Infrastructure

The province is well served with infrastructure, with three ports at Saldanha, Cape Town and Mossel Bay serving different markets. The province also has world class IT infrastructure linked to the world via submarine cables and satellite. The Cape Town convention centre is the province leading facility in the events and conference field, an area of growth for the province. The province is also strategically located as it provides an important gateway into Africa. The Western Cape is served with three major ports, three national highways and two large airports. 

Transport

• The ports include Saldhana Bay, Mossel Bay and Cape Town. The port of Cape Town is a full service general Cargo, well-equipped in its general container storage facilities. It is located about 120 nautical miles north-west of Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point of Africa, at latitude of 33°54' south and a longitude of 18°26' east. Its strategic position on the main sea route around Africa allows it to serve as a hub for cargoes between Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
• The presence of airports and airstrips has become very important in facilitating the development of municipalities. Cape Town International Airport and George Airport are two airports operatingin the Western Cape. The George City airport also handles commercial flights. It should also be noted that there are a number of private airstrips in the Western Cape many of which belong to game lodges, hotels etc. Significant amounts of capital (approximately ZAR1 bn) are also being spent on upgrading and expanding Cape Town International Airport.

Utilities

• Water: Severe droughts in the Southern Cape have helped in providing water to towns through investment in desalination and recycling plants. The need for clean water has created opportunities for small specialist companies.
• Electricity: In 2009 the City of Cape Town issued ZAR128-m in order to improve the capacity and efficiency of several of its substations. In late 2008 and early 2009 Eskom brought an additional 1039MW by commissioning seven units shared in Atlantis and Mossel Bay. These units are useful for coping with variable demand as they are gas-and-diesel-fired. The only nuclear power station in South Africa, Koeberg is situated in Western Cape.

ICT

• Cape Town is the most conducive and cost effective location for ICT. There are over 200 IT & Software companies in Cape Town, employing 7,500 staff in computer activities in Western Cape
• Total employment in ICT services is 17,000
• In addition, there are 45,000 students in Cape Town providing a large supply of educated people entering the workforce

General Overview

The Western Cape is the third largest provincial economy in South Africa after Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal. In 2009 the Western Cape economy was worth ZAR264bn, translating into 15% of the national GDP. Over the past seven consecutive years (2003 to 2009), the Western Cape economy has outperformed the national economy in terms of GDP growth.
Economic Activity (2011)

• GDP Growth (South African economy):  4.8%
• GDP Growth (Western cape Economy) declined by 1.4% from growth 4.3% on 2009.
• GDP growth by sector (Western Cape): Construction 10.5%, finance, insurance, real estate and business services 6.0% and transport, storage and communication 4.6%
• Inflation rate (2010Q4): 3.5%

Economic Structure

• Job creation (2010Q4) 18000, 12000 (2011Q1)
• Employment by sector: Social Services Sector (+13000), trade sector (+9000)
• Job losses by sector: private households (8000), construction (9000).

Skills

The Western Cape has a strong educational sector which ensures skilled workforce for the provincial economy. It has excellent education facilities. Innovative schools such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), the Cape Academy for Maths, Science and Technology (Tokai) and the Centre of Science and Technology (Khayelitsha) have been established to track the maths and science backlog.

The Western Cape has some of the best schools in the country and is often praised for its achievements. Currently there are a total of 2,061 educational centres in the Western Cape, 48% of them focused on primary education (Grades 1 -7), 8% on intermediate education and 17% on secondary education (Grades 8-12). There are also a number of combined schools as well as schools focused solely on the provision of adult education.

Tertiary education

The Western Cape has four tertiary institutions namely University of Stellenbosch, University of Western Cape and Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and Africa's number one University - the University of Cape Town.

There are two graduate schools namely, the UCT's Graduate School of Business (UCTGSB) and Stellenbosch Business School. The UCTGSB is regarded and has accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development in 2010.The Western Cape is also rich with FET colleges and Abet, some are in fairlysmall towns, thus making further education accessible to people rural areas and townships.