Last year alone, R2.6 billion worth of investment was secured, 5 720 jobs were created and 2 048 people were trained by the City’s Special Business Partners (SBPs). This illustrates the power of partnerships between the City and the SBPs we fund.
Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting a summit for all of our SBPs where growth that diversifies our economy was top of the agenda.
To achieve this, the City provides funding to and collaborates with SBPs. They are tasked with addressing developmental challenges and to actively seek out opportunities to grow our economy by attracting investment.
The investments secured, the jobs created and the number of people trained over the last year by our SBPs shows that the City is getting a good return on investment in terms of our goals of economic growth that leads to new jobs.
Our SBPs include the Craft and Design Institute, Cape Town Fashion Council, Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster, the Cape IT Initiative, Wesgro, Business Processing Enabling South Africa (BPESA), Clotex, Cape Town Tourism and GreenCape. Most of these partner organisations are linked to industry sectors which present an impressive potential for growth.
The funding the City provides to the SBPs is tied to targets or outcomes in terms of attracting investment, expanding and retaining business, or training to provide skills pipelines for high-growth sectors.
The economic landscape in Cape Town is more resilient than other cities in South Africa because we focus on and support the high-growth sectors, through working with and funding our SBPs. The sectors that are poised for high-growth include:
- Tourism and Hospitality
- Business Process Outsourcing
- Marine Manufacturing
- Tech sector
- Green Tech sector
However, there is always more work to be done. I am satisfied that following this summit all partners are on board to push ever harder to deliver yet more benefits so that Cape Town’s economy and residents can thrive.
One of my priorities as the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities is to facilitate investment that will lead to job creation and skills development in Cape Town.
Therefore, I am very proud of the work done by our SBPs to date. I would like to thank our partners for putting the money the City has provided to good use for the benefit of the people of Cape Town.