I am delighted to confirm that the world’s largest biotech company, Roche, has entered into a long-term lease in the Brackengate 2 Business Park in Cape Town and has begun construction on their new Roche Diagnostics office. The investment is testament to the fact that where there is a will, there is a way to attract significant investments.
Cape Town and the Western Cape are the tech hubs of Africa, but more than this, Cape Town is also a leading health tech hub on the continent. As a high-performance African business centre, Cape Town is an excellent location for businesses looking to launch their operations into Africa and beyond. I am thrilled that Roche has chosen to expand its investment in our city.
Roche will invest an estimated R700 million and within the next three years, plans to employ 300 employees to work from its new Cape Town site. The new office includes a laboratory, biotech production capacity and office workspace.
I would like to thank the Enterprise and Investment team and the Northern District Planning Office for the hard work they have done to facilitate this exciting investment in our city.
One of my priorities as the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities is to look at new ways to broaden the economic landscape of the city by growing its depth and diversity.
This includes advancing high-growth sectors by providing skills pipelines and business support to drive demand that make business sense so we attract investments, which ultimately lead to employment.
Together with the Department of Enterprise and Investment, we focus on key high-growth sectors and provide an array of services, including investment facilitation.
We offer these services to ensure we attract investment that creates jobs and leads to economic growth.
The Department of Enterprise and Investment helps navigate municipal processes for investments in the city, assists in clearing bottlenecks and are generally on hand to ensure that companies looking to invest in Cape Town have a smooth landing.
In spite of the grave national economic outlook, this significant investment in Cape Town is confirmation that the City is open for business. There has never been a better time to invest in Cape Town.