Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has described the Northern Cape as strategically positioned to become South Africa’s next major growth region.
Addressing the second day of the Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference in Kimberley, Tau said the global race for green hydrogen is no longer speculative, with governments and corporations across Europe, Asia and the Americas committing billions to secure supply chains.
“The Northern Cape sits at the intersection of all three: namely, clean energy, critical minerals and green hydrogen. Certainly, this province has the land, the sun and the wind to become one of Africa's pre-eminent renewable energy production zones.
“Through Boegoebaai and the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy, it has the infrastructure anchor to build a hydrogen economy of genuine scale. These are live policies and programmes with government commitment and investor interest behind them,” Tau said at the Mittah Seperepere International Convention Centre on Tuesday.
The three-day conference aims to serve as a catalyst to align government, business and development partners around a shared programme to unlock large scale investment, accelerate industrial development and sustainable job creation.
According to the Minister, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) has structured its approach to industrialisation around three organising themes, namely: decarbonisation, diversification, and digitalisation.
These align almost precisely with where the Northern Cape's competitive advantages lie.
“As an outcome of our G20/B20 Presidency, which was premised on the pillars of solidarity, equality and sustainable development, government and the private sector will be coming together to realise the Northern Cape’s potential and position it as South Africa’s next economic frontier,” he concluded.
As part of ongoing efforts to create a conducive, business-friendly environment and position the province as an attractive destination for global investors, government launched the investSA One Stop Shop in the province on Monday.
It is designed to ensure broad, accessible and responsive engagement through multiple channels, including South African foreign missions, foreign missions based in South Africa, business chambers, the investSA website, social media platforms, direct marketing emails, newsletters, surveys, and targeted domestic and international investment promotion events.
As in other provinces, the One Stop Shop facility in the Northern Cape is a collaboration between the dtic, the Northern Cape’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Provincial Investment Promotion Agency, other national, provincial and local government departments and agencies, traditional leaders and business associations. – SAnews.gov.za
