14EASTERN CORRIDORTHE
14EASTERN CORRIDORTHE EASTERN DEVELOPMENT CORRIDORThe Eastern Development Corridor is anchoredaround the City of Ekurhuleni, “Africa’s Workshop”.The greatest concentration of manufacturing in South Africa resides within Ekurhuleni. The 15kmradius stretch between Wadeville and Alrode, south-west of Alberton, contains the single biggestconcentration of industrial enterprises in South Africa and the area is a leader in the productionof structural steel and fabricated metal products.Africa’s biggest and busiest airport, the OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA), is a crucialand strategic asset, promoting and attracting businesses across a wide range of sectors.The process of consolidating Ekurhuleni’s position as Africa’s largest aerotropolis andmanufacturing hub is underway.These processes include the following projects:• ORTIA Special Economic Zone (ORTIA SEZ)• Tambo Springs Logistics Gateway• The PRASA-Gibela rail manufacturing hub in Nigel• The expansion of the airport by Airports Company South Africa• Other major private sector developments taking place along R21 highwayThe ORTIA SEZ encompasses three distinct geographical precincts as well as anumber of industry-specific zones such as the Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct.Further zones are being developed to cover agro-processing, pharmaceuticalsand fuel-cell technology.Taken as a whole, these projects will unlock over R200-billion worthof investment.InvestmentsIn the 2023/24 FY the Eastern Corridor accounted for 53% of the totalamount of investment facilitated by the GGDA, of R30.2-billion. In domesticinvestment attracted, the Eastern Corridor was responsible for 24% ofthe total.In terms of trade, rail and manufacturing, both strong suits of theEastern Corridor, play a vital role. Rail’s contribution in the financialyear was R198-billion and manufacturing R617-billion.Supported by bankable feasibility studies and business cases, theORTIA SEZ is leveraging its competitive location next to the airport topromote the production and export of products that utilise air freightas a mode of transport. These include time-sensitive productssuch as fresh foods and pharmaceutical and health products.Other products identified include electronics, capital and miningequipment components as well as inputs that support therenewable energy industry. These inputs include electrolysersand fuel cells that support the production andexport of green hydrogen.Leveraging off its bankability and infrastructureroll-out readiness, the ORTIA SEZ attractedinterest at the Infrastructure Africa Conference heldin Cape Town in July 2024, where a team engagedwith potential investors.The Trade Investment and Regulatory Enablementunit (TIRE) is tasked to promote and attract trade andinvestments into the Gauteng City Region. TIRE’s strategicfocus areas, as they relate to trade facilitation, are toassist Gauteng companies to globalise through trade andexport activities. The GGDA’s AfCFTA roadmap focuses onidentifying anchor countries in key regions where Gautengcompanies are supported, with a view to help them expand. The
15team has reviewed theGlobal Export PassportProgramme (GEPP), whichis the blueprint for exportreadiness training led by theDepartment of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic).According to the 2024 Global Data Centre Market Comparison,Johannesburg is listed as the only African city in the top 10established markets for data centres in the Europe, Middle Eastand Africa (EMEA) region. The north and east of Johannesburg areproving to be the preferred locations for big data centre operatorswith existing operators continuing to grow and expand.The surge in AI technology deployment and demand formore efficient cloud storage drives the growth of data centresglobally, underscoring the country’s relevance in the global datacentre landscape. ICT investment was ploughed into data centreinfrastructure that powers, cools, protects and connects thetechnology of the world’s well-known hyperscalers, cloud providersand large enterprises.In addition, the investment brought international best practicein vendor-neutral data centre management to South Africa to givebusinesses a technically superior, physically safer and lower costenvironment for their information systems.ORTIA SEZThe Gauteng Industrial Development Zone Development Company(GIDZ) is the special-purpose entity which manages the developmentand operation of the designated SEZ at OR Tambo International Airport.The goal is to advance manufacturing and beneficiation activities,contributing to the positioning of Gauteng as a leading, world-classeconomic and export hub. In FY 2023/24, the GIDZ created 4 340 jobs.The ORTIA SEZ encompasses three distinct land parcels at or nearthe airport:• ORTIA SEZ Precinct 1: in the airport• ORTIA SEZ Precinct 2: adjacent to Precinct 1 but outside theairport boundaries• Springs Precinct: 30km from the airport, next to the ImpalaPlatinum Refinery
