The Eastern Cape - a compelling place to live, work and invest...
In the past five years the Eastern Cape has experienced local and international investment, actual and planned, of over R34 billion (US$ 4,5 billion).  This includes a R1,3 billion investment in the Steinhoff/PG Bison board factory, investments worth R3 billion in the East London Industrial Development Zone and investments worth R30 billion in the Coega Industrial Development Zone.

These figures prove that the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa is fast becoming an investment destination of choice for small, medium and large enterprise - both locally and internationally.

The ECDC Investment Promotion Unit has, either directly or indirectly, been involved in assisting investors and business people to harness the potential in the Eastern Cape province and grow successful commerce and industry in our region.

Our investment promotion programme offers a quality service which focuses on:

• Identifying and packaging investment and business opportunities in the Eastern Cape
• Identifying opportunities for joint ventures with local partners
• Providing access to local business service networks
• Assisting investors to access provincial and national investment incentive schemes
• Advice on, and assistance with, location decisions
• Providing a professional and relevant after-care service to all investors

By doing this, the ECDC investment promotion unit helps investors leverage excellent returns on their investment.

Focusing on provincial growth sectors...
The ECDC investment promotion programme focus on eight specific integrated growth sectors which are all aligned to the provincial government's industrial development strategy and provincial growth and development strategy.  These are:

• Agriculture - including investment in farming, agro-processing, forestry and bi-product beneficiation;
• Automotive component manufacture in support of the provincial automotive industry;
• Renewable energy - both generation and renewable energy product manufacture;
• General manufacturing - including metals and engineering, plastics, chemicals and electronic manufacture;
• Tourism - including greenfield and brownfield investments in tourism operations;
• Aquaculture and fisheries - including fish farming, caged fish farming and freshwater fish growth;
• Business Process Outsourcing and Offshoring (BPO&O) - including ICT, electronic software and associated sectors; and
• Film - including the development and growth of the film and media industry in the province.

Competitive and Comparative advantage

The competitive and comparative advantage of investing in the Eastern Cape province lies in the following:

• The Eastern Cape boasts four universities all offering high-impact tertiary education. Eastern Cape university graduates are in demand around the country and this is indicative of the quality education they receive in areas including management and commerce, engineering, law, science, accounting and finances, information technology, the arts, medicine and applied research;
• Through an integrated database system developed and maintained by the provinces two industrial development zones, potential investors have ready access to skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour resources. At present these databases are primarily focused on the call-centre and construction industry but plans are in place to expand the data to include provincial growth sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and tourism (amongst others);
• Two purpose-build industrial development zones - the East London and Coega Industrial Development Zones, which are strategically situated on major transport and shipping routes, provide purpose-built infrastructure for investors wishing to produce and manufacture for the SADC and world markets;
• Government commitment - the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, through its Provincial Industrial Development Strategy (PIDS) and its Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP), are committed to economic diversification and have provided significant inputs and opportunities for local, national and international business to invest in the different sectors of the provincial economy;
• Set-up costs - set-up costs for new business in the Eastern Cape are extremely competitive in terms of production resources, land and rental prices, construction costs and overall input factor costs;
• Access to markets - given the fact that the Eastern Cape has two ports and three airports, easy access to domestic, SADC and global markets is guaranteed; and
• Quality of living - the urban and rural areas of the Eastern Cape boast some of the best quality of living standards in South Africa. Education, recreation, healthcare facilities and overall cost-of-living are affordable and of a high quality - they compare favourably with the best in the world.

Investment success stories

The following investment successes show the potential and business climate of the Eastern Cape in terms of high impact manufacturing, commercial, retail and industrial developments.

• Hemmingway's Mall, a development by the Billion Group, is the biggest shopping centre in the Eastern Cape and the 11^th largest in South Africa. It was opened in East London in September 2009 at a cost of R1,5 billion (US$ 200 million)
• The Nelson Mandela Metro, in conjunction with provincial and national government, has invested a significant amount of funding and resources in the development of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium ahead of the 2010 World Cup. This coupled to public infrastructure upgrades and transport systems has led to significant private sector investment in the Nelson Mandela Bay area
• The SAS Radisson Hotel Group recently opened their doors in Port Elizabeth. The SAS Radisson Port Elizabeth (Radisson Blu) represents an investment of R320 million (US$43 million) in the tourism sector in the Port Elizabeth area.
• The Steinhoff/PG Bison Board Factory, situated in the rural countryside of the North-Eastern Cape, was opened in 2008 by then President Thabo Mbeki. This factory represents a combined private and public sector investment of over R1,3 billion (US$173 million) and has had direct and indirect economic spin-off for this once depressed and impoverished area
• The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), in conjunction with the South African Government, has earmarked Mthatha in the Eastern Cape as a economic nodal growth point and R4 billion (US$530 million) has been set aside for a substantial urban renewal programme to provide the necessary public infrastructure to accommodate the anticipated investment and growth into this region

Investment incentives 

Local, district, provincial and national government have a range of investment and business incentives available for start-up, expansion and new operations.  These incentives range from manufacturing rebates to preferential production factor costs depending on the size and type of investment or proposed business operation.

Full details of applicable incentives can be discussed with the investment promotion sector specialist responsible for sector investment at ECDC.

For more information contact:

Thozi Jim
Tel:  +27 (0)43 704 5606
Fax:  +27 (0)43 743 6036               
e-mail:  tjim@ecdc.co.za