The Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has kicked off construction on the R86-million multi-user processing and value-addition facility in Zone 3 of the Coega industrial development zone (IDZ), in Nelson Mandela Bay, with half of the building space in the first phase of the 6 000 m2 facility already assigned to potential investors.
The development, which would provide a base for processing activities by small, medium-sized and microenterprises, as well as larger firms, would be located on 7 ha of land to allow for future development phases and would offer units ranging between 350 m2 and 1 500 m2.
The development would include four development phases, creating a complex of some 25 000 m2 once fully complete.
“We have already signed term sheets with four South African companies in the agroprocessing and light manufacturing sectors.
“The CDC is situated at the centre of east–west trade routes and offers a deep-water port with purpose-built container, bulk and break-bulk terminals, [enabling access to] the global markets,” commented CDC agroprocessing business development manager Dr Keith du Plessis.
Phase 1 of the project, which was funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, was expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.