Cape Town and the Western Cape’s Investment Promotion Unit at Wesgro is pleased to announce that it has helped secure R2,85 billion in facilitated investments in the 2018/19 financial year, on behalf of the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government. The investments are projected to be realised over a five year period, and create nearly 1,000 new direct jobs.
This follows a successful fourth quarter, where the Investment Team - which consists of the Investment Promotion Unit and Agribusiness Investment Unit, supported in the investment facilitation process by the InvestSA One Stop Shop - collectively secured more than half a billion rand in declared investments.
The investments secured in the fourth quarter were spread across the Tech; Real Estate; Waste and Agribusiness sectors, and are expected to result in the creation of more than 100 new direct jobs.
Wesgro receives its investment promotion mandate from the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government’s Department of Economic Development (DEDAT). The Agribusiness Investment Unit in particular is funded by the Western Cape Government’s Department of Agriculture (DoA). The team also shares an investment-focussed resource with Green Cape, helping land investment into the growing green economy sector.
The investment team manages a pipeline of investors, assisting them to do business in the city and broader province, which is currently valued at R29,4 billion. During the last quarter, 25 new investment projects were recruited into the pipeline, spread across the following key sectors: 5 in Manufacturing, 3 in Tech and 1 each in Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Healthcare, Financial Services, E-mobility, Energy Efficiency, Solar-PV OEM, Consulting and Maritime, and 8 by the Agribusiness Investment Unit.
The team worked hard during the quarter to boost international investor confidence, with 2 outward missions undertaken in the quarter, to the USA and the Netherlands. Engagements focussed on a broad range of sectors, with 26 companies and organisations met during these two missions.
In addition, Wesgro welcomed 28 inward business delegations, as follows: 3 each from Germany, China and Switzerland, 2 each from Thailand and Israel and 1 each from Hong Kong; Canada; Malaysia; Sweden; Uganda; USA; Japan; Netherlands; South Africa; Mauritius; RSA/France; Thailand, Qatar, France, and Malaysia.
The Chief Business Officer, Yaw Peprah, noted: “A key focus in 2018/19 was to strengthen the Agency’s relationship with municipalities across the province, so as to assist in promoting and attracting investment into locations across the entire region. During this last quarter alone, the team engaged with Hessequa Municipality, Theewaterskloof Municipality, Mossel Bay Municipality and George Municipality.”
Peprah continued: “Greater collaboration with the InvestSA One Stop Shop, operated by Wesgro and DEDAT, was also prioritised, as the investor centre provides an on-the-ground service offering for investors looking to do business in the Western Cape. The One Stop Shop has now assisted with 13 regulatory approvals, exceeding its target.”
Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities, Beverly Schäfer, said: "The Western Cape Government has been working to create an enabling environment for investment and job creation. The R2,85 billion in investment secured in the last financial year signals confidence in the provincial economy and will contribute to the creation of 1000 new jobs in our province. As the province is positioning itself as a global tech and green manufacturing hub, we are pleased to see that some of these investments have been made in the tech and the waste sectors, while further investments have been made into agri-processing, which is a priority sector under Project Khulisa."
Alderman James Vos, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, added: “The City of Cape Town is determined to attract as much investment as possible, so as to grow the economy and create jobs for our people. We are working hard with our special purpose vehicles, such as our investment and trade promotion agency, Wesgro, and BPESA to make this a reality. We are also promoting the destination through our brand initiative ‘Invest Cape Town’. I am extremely excited by the announcement that nearly R3 billion was attracted by our investment team at Wesgro – this investment and the jobs it will create is helping position Cape Town as an economic power-house on the African continent, and a gate-way to the many opportunities that exist in our region. Thank you for your effort, and lets grow this investment even further.”
Wesgro’s Head of Investment Promotion, James Milne, concluded that “landing an investment successfully requires the collective effort of the entire ‘ecosystem’. We would therefore like to thank our partners in the City’s Enterprise and Investment Department, DEDAT, the DoA, the Dti, GreenCape and BpESA for their continued support in helping make the Cape an attractive investment destination. We hope to build on the successes of 2018/19 to drive even greater investment figures and job creation in 2019/20.”
