Investors and stakeholders from government, academia and business sectors are set to gather in Kimberley next month for the inaugural Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference. The objective of the conference is to achieve rapid industrialization, economic development and employment generation in the province.
Positioning the Northern Cape as a new growth frontier for South Africa, the event aims to help unlock investment in the province's vast untapped natural resources, including mineral and renewable energy resources.
The conference will be hosted by Northern Cape Premier, Dr Zamani Saul and MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Venus Lorato Blennies-Mages, together with key industry partners.
Dr Zamani Saul says, “The Northern Cape is a competitive, investment-ready province that is committed to economic transformation and job creation. The province continues to record significant achievements in key areas and is strongly committed to improving service delivery and improving the lives of its people.”
The province aims to catalyze the creation of more than 60,000 permanent new jobs over the next three years through investment and development in the mining, renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, tourism and manufacturing sectors. This employment generation target is closely aligned with both the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) and the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) Vision 2040, which outline the province's proportionate contribution to the country's broader employment objectives.
A new development front
The Northern Cape's rich mineral resources position the region as a new growth point for rare earth mineral mining. With billions already invested in manganese, iron ore and diamond mining and related value chains, significant untapped opportunities remain for the mining and beneficiation of lithium and other rare earth minerals. The province has the potential to become one of the world's largest and lowest-cost new producers of minerals needed for smartphones, lithium batteries and other products.
Highlighting the growth potential of the province, the Industrial Development Corporation recently announced More than R300m in funding for the Frontier Rare Earths Project in the Northern Cape.
The province is also the center of the Southern African renewable energy sector and hosts half of the country's major solar and wind farm installations. However, there remain significant future growth opportunities for grid expansion and battery storage projects, as well as green hydrogen, ammonia and power-to-X (P2X) projects.
Our province produces almost three times more renewable energy than it consumes, accounting for more than 60% of the country's renewable energy projects, says Dr. Saul.
Industrialization and logistics also represent major growth areas. With over R100 billion in anticipated investment, the industrialization of the Northern Cape could include mining, energy, mineral beneficiation, agro-processing and logistics and manufacturing. Driven by major infrastructure projects including the Boegobai deepwater port and the Upington Special Economic Zone and dry port, significant opportunities exist to enhance trade routes to Namibia, service large-scale manganese and iron ore mining operations, and transport, cold chain and logistics for agro-processing. Tourism integration and agriculture and agro-processing also provide high-value investment opportunities.
unlocking major opportunities
The Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference will bring together local and international investors; diplomatic corps; provincial, national and local government; business and industry leaders; Academia and community stakeholders in Kimberley from 13 to 15 April 2026 to discuss investment and growth opportunities and the way forward.
In plenary sessions and panel discussions, speakers will highlight topics such as why the Northern Cape represents the future of South African economic growth; mining opportunities, future minerals, and value chain benefits; Northern Cape as Africa's renewable energy hub; critical infrastructure and logistics capability; development of transport corridors, integrating tourism into industrial development strategies; building resilient agricultural ecosystems; and Northern Cape pathways to industrialisation.
For more information about the conference, and to register your interest in attending, please visit www.ncijc.org.za Or contact: sandra@blueberryconcepts.co.za
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