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Limpopo Business 2019-20 edition

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The 2019/20 edition of Limpopo Business is the 11th issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Limpopo Province. Limpopo has several investment and business opportunities. In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, there are special features on various Special Economic Zones (SEZs) which aim to drive industrialization in the province and the initiatives which are further enhancing the tourism offering in Limpopo. News related to mining, agriculture, transport and logistics, education and development finance is carried in overviews of the main economic sectors in the province. To complement the extensive local, national and international distribution of the print edition, the full content can also be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com Updated information on the Limpopo is also available through our monthly e-newsletter, which you can subscribe to at https://www.globalafricanetwork.com/subscribe/, in addition to our complementary business-to-business titles that cover all nine provinces as well as our flagship South African Business.

SPECIAL FEATURE Boosting

SPECIAL FEATURE Boosting economic growth Sector-specific industrial zones are set to transform Limpopo’s economy. Mineral beneficiation is a vital part of Limpopo’s economy. Photo: Impala Platinum. In July 2016 the national cabinet approved the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Located in the far north of Limpopo in the Vhembe region, Musina-Makhado is strategically located near the border of Zimbabwe and on the Great North Road which links South Africa to the broader Southern African region. The location of the Musina-Makhado SEZ, with links to Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique, promotes the Trans-Limpopo Spatial Development Initiative. Logistics will be one of the key focus areas of the SEZ. Soon after the announcement of the designation of the SEZ, the National Department of Trade and Industry (dti) said that a consortium of Chinese investors, Sino, has agreed to put R40- billion into the Musina-Makhado SEZ where they will operate the mineral beneficiation operations. The initiative has already attracted investors in the form of the Eco-Industrial Solutions (EIS), the private sector investor behind the Limpopo Eco- Industrial Park (LEIP). LEIP aims to be an integrated industrial development comprising five major industrial components that sets new standards in sustainability. Set on 6 400ha of land, the LEIP will include a nature reserve, two residential estates and schools. The Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA) is working with EIS to establish a petrochemical cluster within the Musina-Makhado SEZ. LEDA is the key driver of the provincial government’s drive to boost the economy through investment. LEDA is an agency of the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET). LEDA’s brief LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2019/20 14

SPECIAL FEATURE is to contribute to accelerated industrialisation in Limpopo by stimulating and diversifying the industrial base of the regional economy. The focus is on high-impact projects that will spark growth in a variety of sectors and create employment opportunities. Two key areas of focus relate to Special Economic Zones and Corridor Development and to land, property and infrastructure development (including business parks and industrial parks). As these targeted areas grow, the infrastructure and associated industries will act as a magnet for other businesses and industries in the same sector, together with service industries. A Musina-Makhado Skills Development Plan has been approved by the provincial government. A second application for an SEZ at Tubatse is pending. Tubatse is in the Sekhukhune District Municipality and hosts a number of mining operations. The SEZ in Tubatse will focus on the beneficiation of platinum group metals (PGM) and mining-related manufacturing. The province of Bashkortostan in Russia has also expressed an interest in the SEZs of Limpopo. Phase one of the SEZ project would see a 280ha site developed to accommodate a mining suppliers park, light manufacturing, heavy manufacturing, logistics, a solar energy cluster and a PGM beneficiation cluster. sector infrastructure, an integrated public transport policy and policies on land development. Key elements of the Limpopo Development Plan are: industrialisation (beneficiation of mining and agricultural products and produce); mining (local suppliers, improved training and access to sector value chains for entrepreneurs); infrastructure development; agri-processing; SMME promotion and ICT and the knowledge economy (establish a WAN footprint). Mining is currently the most important part of the provincial economy. Recent platinum mining developments on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex have increased this effect but global commodity prices have been uncertain in recent years. One of the goals of the LDP is to see more beneficiation from the mining sector, which will support the goal of further industrialising the province’s economy. Related to this is an emphasis on the manufacturing that needs to grow, and this is where the SEZs’ role becomes critical. While the Limpopo Development Plan is aligned with the broader National Development Plan, there are also several national Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs) which affect Limpopo. Three in particular are expected to make a big impact, namely SIP 1 (Unlocking the Northern Mineral Belt with Waterberg as the Catalyst), SIP 6 (Integrated Municipal Infrastructure Project) and SIP 7 (Integrated Urban Space and Public Transport Programme). SPECIAL FEATURE Other national SIPs of relevance relate to green Limpopo Development Plan energy, agri-logistics and rural infrastructure, The Great North Road regional integration and water and sanitation The SEZ and industrial passes through parks being Limpopo promoted in infrastructure. from the south to the border town of Musina and on the province fall within a broader framework. The Limpopo Development to Zimbabwe Plan and (LDP) its neighbours improvement in the Southern and African development: targets three broad areas for socio-economic, Development infrastructural Community. and institutional. Every department The busy of the N11 Limpopo highway links Provincial Government has the targets province within to Botswana the LDP to which are translated into the actionable west and Mpumalanga programmes to be implemented within Province time-frames. to the east. Most of South Africa's logistics operators have a pres- The plan is supported by strategies relating to a spatial investment ence framework in the provincial in public capital and private city of Polokwane and freight logistics hubs have been established at that city and at Musina. 15 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2019/20 Limpopo covers about 10% of South Africa's The province also has a sophisticated rail net-

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