Limpopo Business 2017-18 edition

MESSAGE
Limpopo welcomes investors to the
“gateway” province
A message from the Premier of Limpopo, the Honourable Chupu Stanley Mathabatha.
Chupu Stanley Mathabatha,
Premier of Limpopo
It gives me great pleasure to
welcome the readers of Limpopo
Business to the heartland of
Southern Africa. Limpopo is also
known as the “gateway” province
because of our strategic location
on the Great North Road to
Zimbabwe, our links to the Port of
Maputo in Mozambique via the
Phalaborwa Spatial Development
Initiative and the Maputo Corridor
and our close proximity to the
Republic of Botswana and three
South African provinces, Gauteng,
North West and Mpumalanga.
Trade in the mining and agricultural products of Limpopo is
supported by an excellent transport and logistics sector which recently
received an additional boost with the approval by the South African
national government of a new Special Economic Zone in the province.
The Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone will leverage the existing
advantages in mining and logistics of the northern part of Limpopo
and special tax and customs regimes will be attractive to investors. A
mining-focussed SEZ at Tubatse is also under consideration and we
expect to attract about R44-billion in investments into these two zones.
The rich soils of Limpopo produce great quantities of high-quality
minerals and fruit and vegetables. Investors with the ability to beneficiate
minerals or add value to agricultural produce through processing
can take advantage of the favourable terms offered by Special
Economic Zone legislation.
Power generation, steel and coking plants and plasma waste gasification
are among the possibilities for the Musina SEZ, while the focus
at Tubatse will be platinum group metals beneficiation and also the
manufacturing of goods that are used in the mining industry.
Working together with the private sector, our provincial government
has identified 10 major projects with a combined value of R46-billion.
This will go a long way towards helping us to expand the productive
capacity of our economy. We invite other investors to explore with us
the possibilities for further projects that will support our effort to put
Limpopo on a higher trajectory of economic growth and development.
Our Limpopo Development Plan symbolises our dedication to the
improvement of our provincial economy. The plan is our contribution to
the nation’s development and it details how we in Limpopo share the
same vision and imperatives regarding poverty reduction, elimination
of social inequality and the creation of sustainable jobs.
We are pleased that Limpopo has recorded the second-highest
employment gains in 2016. In the fourth quarter, Limpopo managed
to create 64 000 new jobs. Jobs gained were mainly in the areas of
construction, mining and agriculture.
We are committed to improving infrastructure in the province,
both to improve the quality of life of our citizens and as a way of
enabling investment.
Limpopo Connexion, a subsidiary of the Limpopo Economic
Development Agency, has begun in earnest with the rollout of
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