The New Energy Vehicle (NEV) summit, which will take place on October 22 and 23, is aimed at supporting the transition of South Africa's automotive sector to an environment-friendly and sustainable sector.

At the summit, policymakers, original-equipment manufacturers, investors and innovators will design a roadmap to accelerate South Africa’s transition to NEVs and a low-carbon, globally competitive automotive future.

The conference will be held at the Gallagher Convention Centre, in Midrand. Industry organisations and agencies the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA), Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC) and the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) will host the event.

Specifically, the event will showcase progress, partnerships and practical steps towards building a robust local NEV ecosystem, the organisers say.

With the EU’s carbon-neutrality policies reshaping global trade, South Africa’s automotive exports, with the common destination being the EU, must increasingly meet low- or zero-emission standards, they emphasise.

The summit underscores the urgency of adapting now to safeguard market access, competitiveness and long-term sustainability.

Therefore, the summit's key themes are policy alignment and industrial readiness for NEV manufacturing and green economy investment and financing opportunities.

It will also focus on skills development and workforce transition, and infrastructure and technology partnerships to enable NEV production and uptake.

Meanwhile, Gauteng manufactures a significant share of the country’s cars, accounting for about one-third of all of the country’s automotive output and has the infrastructure, logistics and talent to scale up its NEV manufacturing, these organisations say.

As South Africa’s automotive sector evolves, GGDA, AIDC and TASEZ aim to drive inclusive, green industrialisation and ensure that the transition to cleaner mobility creates sustainable local jobs and growth opportunities while meeting global standards.