Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has expressed confidence and satisfaction in progress being made at the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Minister paid a visit to the facility on Thursday where he was joined by the Deputy Minister of the Department of Science and Technology, Nomalungelo Gina, the provincial MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Reverend Musa Zondi and the provincial MEC for Transport and Human Settlement, Siboniso Duma.
The RBIDZ has received funding from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) programme. It has R252.39 billion investment in the pipeline with 23 investors and one strategic partner.
Tau visited Nyanza Light metals, which is housed in the industrial development zone. The company is constructing a R15 billion titanium dioxide pigment manufacturing plant. The plant will be the only one of its kind in Africa and will employ 3 000 people during construction and up to 850 permanent jobs during the operations.
“The project has attracted financing from the dtic’s SEZ programme, which establishes designated, geographically focused areas to attract foreign and domestic investment, aiming to accelerate industrial growth, exports, and job creation.
“Other several development finance institutions, including the Industrial Development Corporation, the African Development Bank, and other partners such as the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have funded the project and have committed to supporting this project as co-mandated lead arrangers.
“We are particularly thrilled about this initiative because it presents a model that can be replicated in similar projects, “said the Minister.
He added that the initiative shows how private sector funding can be mobilised alongside support from development finance institutions at the national and continental level as well as international partners.
“Significantly, the project also mobilises technology transfer from China, which is indicative of our ability to build our industrial base in the country and in terms of our ability to ensure that we beneficiate material locally and we ensure that industrialisation happens at source,” said the Minister.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the RBIDZ, Thabane Zulu said the facility is at a point where it is ready for implementation.
“We are at a point where we are ready to implement. Amongst others, the contract was signed for piling, which would be to prepare the infrastructure for the development to take place. So, for the next few months, you will see massive infrastructure investment, and the building of the actual plant that would be able to produce on this site,” said Zulu.
The Nyanza Light metals project received direct support of R118 million from the dtic. – SAnews.gov.za
