Three National Government ministers attended the inaugural Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference in Kimberley today, and spoke in support of the province's aggressive economic growth and job creation strategy.
The Northern Cape is targeting industrialization and beneficiation to increase its GDP from R164bn to R200bn and create at least 60,000 permanent new jobs by 2030. The strategy focuses on the mining, renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, tourism and manufacturing sectors.
South African Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau; Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams; And Minister of Power and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho David Ramokgopa, highlighted the Northern Cape's growth potential to more than 900 potential investors, business and finance industry stakeholders at the conference this week.
Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul opened proceedings by highlighting initiatives supporting economic growth in the province, such as the Northern Cape Deal Making Chamber, the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Northern Cape Province Transformation Fund, and the Detik and InvestSA One Stop Shop (OSS) for investors.
“Our progress in terms of GDP growth and reducing unemployment indicates that we are on the way to becoming the new frontier of development in the country,” he said. The Prime Minister said mining, along with agriculture and energy production, remains the primary driver of growth in the province.
“The energy transition is reshaping South Africa's investment geography, and the Northern Cape is at the center of this. We also believe that the next 100 years of mining in South Africa is concentrated right here in the Northern Cape. There are currently 156 active mines in the province, and the number of applications for prospecting and mining in the province is growing,” he said.
Development prospects in the digital age
Minister Tau said: “The Northern Cape has the land, sun and wind to become one of Africa's leading renewable energy production regions. Through Boégoébai and the Green Hydrogen Commercialization Strategy, it has the infrastructure to create a real-scale hydrogen economy. These are vibrant policies and programs that have government commitment and investor interest behind them.
Beyond energy, the Northern Cape's vast open spaces, low population density and potential water access through desalination make it an ideal destination for data centers – one of the fastest growing infrastructure investment categories globally. And agriculture, particularly in raisins, table grapes, dates and protein crops, remains a strong base with significant room for agro-processing and value chain development.
He said DTIC has structured its approach to industrialization around three organizational themes, namely: decarbonization, diversification and digitalization.
“These 3Ds align almost exactly with the Northern Cape’s competitive advantage,” the minister said. “The EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism is already changing the calculus for South African exporters. Our response is to position our industrial base as a low-carbon production platform. Green hydrogen, green steel and battery storage are areas where the Northern Cape's feedstock advantages allow us to compete. The Just Energy Transition Investment Plan is exactly what is mobilizing capital for this transition. This is how we deliver decarbonisation.”
“On diversification, we are building the manufacturing value chain beyond our traditional strengths. Instead of exporting manganese ore, we want to export manganese products. Instead of exporting iron ore, we want to export steel. The logic of beneficiation is clear, and the Northern Cape's mineral endowment makes it a natural site for that industrial intensification.”
Minister Tau said: “The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and our Special Economic Zones (SEZ) programs are the institutions and tools we are deploying to do this. With respect to the imposition of unilateral tariffs by some countries, we are also diversifying our trading partners. We are building new networks around the world and leveraging our Global South partners. We are taking this risk while simultaneously strengthening our relationships with our traditional partners.”
“On digitalization, the infrastructure requirements of the digital economy – power, land, connectivity – are increasingly overlapping with what this province has to offer,” he said. “Data centers create skilled jobs, require local supply chains, and create the platform for broader digital industrialization.
The conditions are there for that story to take off in the Northern Cape. These three pillars of our industrial policy are integrated and mutually reinforcing. Here the investment in green hydrogen is a decarbonization investment, a diversification investment and a digital infrastructure investment. “That convergence is what makes this province so strategically strong right now.”
a growing powerhouse
Minister Ramokgopa emphasized the Northern Cape's huge green energy development potential.
He said: “With the strongest resources concentrated in the Northern Cape and central interior, South Africa has the highest levels of solar radiation globally. This enables high energy yields and a highly competitive solar generation capacity of up to 4.7 kilowatts per square kilometre.
South Africa also benefits from fast and consistent wind speeds along the Eastern, Eastern and Northern Cape coastlines, creating prime conditions for large-scale wind deployment.
The Minister also highlighted the key minerals required for the production of renewable energy components including copper, manganese, silicon, lithium, nickel, graphite, zinc, graphite, chromium and manganese. The Northern Cape in South Africa is emerging as an important hub for rare earth elements that are important for electric vehicles and renewable energy, containing more than 77% of the world's land manganese resources.
South Africa has the potential to become the continent's green energy 'battery', he said, with the Northern Cape at the center of new energy production.
MSME is the key to employment generation
Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams stressed the importance of supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to meet the Northern Cape’s goal of sustainable job creation.
He said Section 22 of the Constitution of South Africa gives every citizen the right to freely choose his or her trade, business or profession.
“This puts a responsibility on all of us to ensure that this right exists in practice in an enabling and investment-friendly environment,” the minister said.
“Because the NDP says 85% – 90% of jobs will come from small enterprises, it is a national imperative that MSMEs and co-operatives must be at the center of our decisions.”
He said: “We need to be deliberate about how we use the investment that comes to us. Not all investment creates jobs, and not all jobs created will be sustainable. We need tools to ensure that we create sustainable jobs and that entrepreneurs benefit from investment.”
The Minister said: “We will meet investors by ensuring that the entrepreneurs they contract and sub-contract with in the Northern Cape are ready to participate in the value chain of their investments. We look forward to supporting entrepreneurs through funding preparation and technical readiness.”
Partners invited to unlock opportunities
Northern Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Lerato Venus Blennies-Mages, said that for too long, South Africa's economic activity was concentrated in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal.
The Northern Cape Development Strategy aimed to change this with investment, profit and industrialization. “Our message is simple – if you mine in the Northern Cape, you have to do processing in the Northern Cape. Products grown in the province must be processed and packed here,” she said.
The MEC invited investors and business stakeholders to take advantage of the opportunities in the province: “Partner with us, invest with us and build with us.”
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