Single regional economic bloc for Gauteng on the cards

A NEW initiative is under way to create a single regional economic bloc for Gauteng since international investors do not recognise political and geographical boundaries. Provincial government and local municipalities have joined forces to deliver a consistent message and ensure that efforts to attract investors are not duplicated. The Gauteng Economic Development Agency (Geda) has been selected to serve as the main focus for the initiative and is currently being reorganised to deliver on this mandate. According to Barba Gaoganediwe, Geda’s senior manager strategic communications, this will increase the business intelligence, improve co-ordination with municipalities, and provide better knowledge of the private sector. In addition it will ensure consistency in development so one area doesn’t, for instance, have a surplus of steel while another suffers from a shortage. Geda will serve as a single platform that will utilise and share all the region’s resources and sell each city on its individual strengths. The initiative seeks to consolidate Gauteng’s position as the leading African region to further compete for foreign investment with other major city regions across the globe. The driving force is the desire to reduce the cost of doing business here. Gaoganediwe says it’s crucial to have a strong, consolidated product offering which is created by combining the strengths of the different areas. This includes logistics and distribution from Ekurhuleni; financial services from Johannesburg; and automotive, general administrative services, research and development from Tshwane. But the initiative will not be limited to the Gauteng geographical area, Witbank with its steel, Nelspruit as part of the corridor to the Maputo harbour, Potchefstroom and Rustenburg (which had one of the fastest growing economies in Africa last year) will all be included to strengthen the product on offer.