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Limpopo Business 2022-23

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The 2022/23 edition of Limpopo Business is the 14th 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. Both of the province’s two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have taken several pages in this journal in order to share their goals with potential investors. The business case for the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) in the province’s far north has been accepted and the SEZ has received its official designation. Several investors have signed on and infrastructure development is underway. The Fetakgomo-Tubatse SEZ in the east is building up its infrastructure in terms of roads, railway sidings and water provision and both SEZs are taking an interest in renewable energy, and green hydrogen in particular. A special feature on green hydrogen appears in the front section of this journal. News related to mining, agriculture, tourism, construction and property, water, education and more.

INTERVIEW Infrastructure

INTERVIEW Infrastructure investment for impact Head of Infrastructure South Africa and Head of the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Presidency, Prof. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, outlines the goals behind the establishment of Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) to coordinate the planning, management and delivery of high-impact projects. Prof. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa BIOGRAPHY Prior to his current position, Prof. Ramokgopa was an MEC in the Gauteng Provincial Government, having been Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane before that. He was Chief Executive Officer for the Metropolitan Trading Company and the Johannesburg Market and has served as Deputy Chairperson of the board of Trade and Investment in Limpopo. He holds a PhD, a Master’s in Public Administration and a Master’s in Business Leadership. He completed his BSc in Civil Engineering at the University of Durban Westville in 1998. In 2022, Prof. Ramokgopa was appointed as Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy. What is Infrastructure South Africa’s mandate? Infrastructure South Africa is mandated to: • Lead the national infrastructure strategy by defining and planning the infrastructure investment portfolio of high-impact, priority and quality economic and social infrastructure projects to meet the NDP and NIP 2050 objectives • Through the ISA Centre of Excellence, drive best-practice thinking in terms of infrastructure research and analysis, trends, future scenarios and insights • Enable stakeholder collaboration by convening and bringing together stakeholders, including project sponsors, policy-makers, private sector, etc, to drive infrastructure planning and delivery integration • Through the Portfolio Management Office, ISA drives best practice enforcement by maintaining best-practice governance and assurance for infrastructure projects and programmes • Provide support to project sponsors in the development of robust business cases through specialised project-evaluation expertise, financial structuring and designing fit-for-purpose funding solutions for public sector infrastructure projects and programmes. To whom does ISA report? ISA is governed under the executive authority of the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), and reports to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Council chaired by the President of the Republic of South Africa. What are the goals of ISA? Infrastructure South Africa is an infrastructure centre of excellence and is established as a single point of entry for infrastructure planning, management and delivery. Infrastructure South Africa is a catalyst for closing the infrastructure investment gap and meeting the infrastructure target set out in the National Development Plan, and provides best practice in project preparation, leadership on infrastructure planning, technical and financial support for nationally-prioritised infrastructure projects and programmes. What are the key programmes of Infrastructure South Africa through which it delivers on its mandate? ISA has six key programmes through which it delivers its mandate: 1. Infrastructure Investment Planning and Oversight LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2022/23 12

INTERVIEW National Infrastructure Plan 2050 offers a strategic vision and plan for the country, promotes dynamism in infrastructure delivery, addresses institutional blockages and weaknesses and develops a prioritised national portfolio of catalytic projects and programmes designed to close the infrastructure investment gap. 2. Infrastructure Delivery Management and Governance Development of comprehensive infrastructure project pipeline: governance, visibility and transparent design in respect of project structuring, due diligence, quality assurance to build investor confidence and to leverage private sector funding. 3. Infrastructure Investment Funding and Financing Infrastructure Fund oversight, innovative funding instruments for public sector infrastructure projects and programmes, enhance role of private sector in the development and financing of catalytic infrastructure, Ease of Doing Business, and Investment Intelligence. 4. Infrastructure Project Pipeline Execution Strategic Integrated Projects; Procurement, Contract Management Oversight, etc. Design standardisation, green technologies and innovation. 5. Property, Land, Building Portfolio Management Sustainability of government assets and infrastructure; Public Private Partnerships; Frequently Built Public Assets; Public land maximisation. 6. ISA Centre of Excellence Authority on infrastructure research, forecasting and economic analysis. The programme also produces infrastructure indices, conducts socio-economic impact assessments and spatial analyses of infrastructure investment projects and pipelines. What is the ISA Centre of Excellence? The ISA Centre of Excellence (CoE) aims to create an organisational environment that strives to develop highquality research, learning and innovation. The CoE objective is to ensure that ISA becomes the leading and “go-to” authority on infrastructure research, information, long-term planning and guidance in South Africa. The CoE will focus on collaboration with various sector bodies and institutions to enhance infrastructure research and development. The CoE within ISA is a small team of highly-skilled and dedicated individuals that operates separately from the functional areas that it supports within the ISA organisation. Focus areas for the CoE include: • Serves as a “Think Tank” on matters related to infrastructure economics in the country by bridging the gap between infrastructure research and infrastructure delivery • Research and analytical focus that will serve in an advisory capacity to ISA • Development and analysis of infrastructure indices • Development of insights and best practices of infrastructure-led strategies • Update and expand an infrastructure database for the country • Create and expand infrastructure-led research and capacity development through the publication of research papers • Infrastructure research, socio-economic impact assessment, spatial analysis, forecasting, and economic analysis • Benefits realisation and ex-post analysis of implemented infrastructure projects. What role did the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of South Africa, first held in 2020, play in kickstarting investment in infrastructure? The Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium (SIDSSA) is a platform that brings together critical roleplayers in the infrastructure investment space, who are galvanised around a key goal of accelerating an infrastructure-led economic recovery plan. The symposium is also a platform to explore partnerships between the public and private sectors and investment opportunities in infrastructure. Furthermore, the symposium is intended to shape the conversations about regulatory and policy reforms, innovative funding models for infrastructure and investing in infrastructure for a shared prosperity for all. The aim was to share with the private sector our view of a long-term infrastructure project horizon and to open doors for a degree of preparation and investment to stimulate demand and resuscitate the supply side, followed by an increase in job creation. In furthering infrastructure development as an avenue to rebuild the economy, we wanted to ensure that there was greater participation of black players, industrialists, communities located in villages, rural areas and townships. We are aiming for a fundamental alteration of the economic relations of society towards a shared future in which everyone must participate. Inclusivity and transformation are key ingredients to the South Africa that we want to construct. We conceptualised the symposium to demonstrate South Africa’s commitment to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure that we could draw on the pool of liquidity seeking to fund sustainable infrastructure projects. ■ 13 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2022/23

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