NEWS / 27 DECEMBER 2018, 07:12AM / RAPULA MOATSHE
Pretoria – The Tshwane Economic Development Agency (Teda), a municipal entity, is basking in the glory of its achievement after attracting R3.6 billion in investments to the capital.
Non-executive chairperson Nils Flaatten said the good performance surpassed the target of R1.5bn set for the 2017/18 financial year.
The rosy picture painted about the Teda was a build-up of hard work in the 2016/17 financial year when it had an investment target of R1bn, which it exceeded by R200 million. Flaatten said for this financial year, Teda exceeded its annual investment target by R2.1bn and achieved 17 out of 17 key performance targets.
Teda also exceeded the achievements of two provincial investment promotion agencies by more than R1bn. “The role of cities is critical in attracting new investment to deliver tangible results that would make a difference to the local economy and to the lives of residents,” he said.
Flaatten said the Teda’s investment pipeline had 15 new projects that could see it achieving about R2bn in the 2018/19 financial year. “A large part of the pipeline is made up of global tier-1 and tier-2 automotive suppliers, logistics projects, aviation and hi-tech manufacturing.”
In 2016, the capital was ranked behind Joburg, Cape Town and Durban in foreign direct investment values. Flaatten said the main aim was to improve its position in the coming years.
“Despite this, the city was ranked the highest among South African cities in the Growth Potential study conducted by BrandSA,” he said.
MMC for Economic Development and Spatial Planning Randall Williams said: “When we appointed the new board of directors, Executive Mayor Msimanga and I made it very clear to Teda that it had to focus on promoting the City’s investment opportunities and start telling the economic success story of the capital.”
He said the City had 12 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and that Centurion had become an epicentre for high value business process outsourcing.
The City was also a major player in the South African insurance sector, Randall said. Over the medium term, the City would become South Africa’s export springboard into the African region. “Growthpoint recently announced it will build a R450m special surgical head-and-neck hospital in the city – the first in Africa,” he said.
Pretoria News
