Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has started to see positive results as it continues to implement its economic recovery plan.
The City through its revised investment incentive policy cemented investments worth R567m in the next five years which will create an additional 417 permanent jobs in three years.
The municipality adopted a revised investment incentive policy in October 2020, which aims to improve the economic competitiveness of Nelson Mandela Bay to attract, secure and grow domestic and foreign direct investment.
Bay Mayor Cllr Nqaba Bhanga said the municipality’s economic recovery framework strongly suggested a proactive approach that sought to prioritise business retention and expansion in the metro while attracting new investments in order develop and grow the economy of this region.
“It is for this reason that economic development, tourism and agriculture directorate (EDTA) in its efforts to attract, retain and expand business investment has managed to secure these crucial investments for the city and this could not have happened at a better time than now when the whole world is facing catastrophic results of Covid 19 which are characterised by job losses, company closures and economic decline” Bhanga said.
Bhanga announced that the investments were made by Dastile Wealth Insure, Formex and Clover SA. He further indicated that Dastile Wealth Insure and Formex will be supported with rental subsidisation on private properties while Clover SA will be supported through discount on municipal rates and services”.
He said the municipality’s legal services directorate was tasked with reviewing the service level agreements that included an incentive contract to ensure all conditions were legally enforceable in line with the investment incentive policy.
According to the city’s economic development, tourism and agriculture head Anele Qaba, the investment breakdown is as follows:
- Dastile Wealth Insure will invest R11, 250,000 in the next three years and create 250 jobs in the same timeline;
- Formex Industries will invest R70m in the next two years and create about 95 jobs in three years.
- Clover SA will invest a whopping R486m over five years and create 72 jobs in just three years
“It is investments like these that the incentive policy as revised is targeting in order to recover economically from the devastating consequences of Covid-19.
The municipality was pro-active to put a plan in place on time and now we have started to reap the rewards as envisaged.
This shows that we will ultimately get back the economy of this region to its normal state and grow it beyond pre-Covid 19 eminence. Through strong partnerships and collaborations with private sector, we will without a doubt rise from the ashes.”
He said the EDTA also has a further R168.6m investment in its pipeline by Bidcorp.
“This is an immediate investment with 100 jobs projected during the construction phase. The construction phase is expected to last nine months and will see 24 additional permanent jobs are further.”
He said this brought the total investment by the four (4) companies to R735, 6m over a period of five years.
“The EDTA is currently assisting Bidcorp with fast-tracking its environmental impact assessment (EIA) application at the Eastern Cape department of economic development, environmental affairs and tourism,” Qaba said.
“The approval of the EIA is the key to unlocking this important immediate investment in Nelson Mandela Bay and I am happy that the department has speeded up processes to a point that by the end of March an EIA authorisation will be issued. I had engagements with DEDEAT Regional Manager, Mr Leon Els and he assured me that the matter will be finalised by end March even though the deadline was in April. It is through partnerships and collaborations of this nature that will unlock various economic opportunities for this region”
Economic development Mayoral Committee Member Siyasanga Sijadu applauded the R735,6m investments by the four companies.
“Efforts of investment attraction, retention and expansion by EDTA continue to be a priority for the directorate,” she said.
“The directorate has taken a deliberate approach to intensify stakeholder engagement and cement collaborations.
“These stakeholder engagements would assist in establishing bottlenecks faced by the business community and respond timeously to resolve the identified bottlenecks were possible.
“The main objective is to ensure an increased flow of new investments and retain existing investments in Nelson Mandela Bay through the creation of a business environment that is conducive for investors located in the region or those looking to establish a presence in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Qaba, meanwhile, said to strengthen the directorate’s ability to attract investors Mpho Jonas was appointed as Director for Trade and Investment and Assistant Director Jeremy Dobbin for Manufacturing and Renewable Energy on February 1.
“As the Director for Trade and Investment Jonas has joined the EDTA after years of leading investment facilitation and promotions at a national level under TISA (Trade and Investment South Africa) Division.”
He said Jeremy Dobbin, who worked at the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber as its head of research, also joined EDTA from March 1,2021.
“Dobbin has a wealth of experience and is familiar with the local business environment as he was with the chamber before joining us,” Qaba said.