Through strong partnerships within the City of Cape Town (CoCT), its strategic business partners (SBPs) and the business ecosystem in the city, the municipality has come up with a range of plans and programmes, through its Economic Action Plan, to address issues brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some of these plans are being fully implemented, while others are in the planning phase, notes CoCT Economic Opportunities and Asset Management MMC James Vos.

He says it is these initiatives that helped the municipality “quickly pivot” to provide the necessary support to businesses and to mitigate much of the worst of the economic crisis. “Now, we are able to expand on many of these projects.”

One such initiative is the Investment Facilitation Unit and its incentives policy, which helps potential investors navigate municipal processes in the metro, he explains.

“As much as possible, we want to create the conditions that allow for ease of doing business. This dedicated team within my department works with companies who want to land investments here, as well as existing companies wanting to expand,” says Vos.

Through this unit, he says, the CoCT provides financial and non-financial incentives. “We are working now to make that policy even more inclusive, allowing more businesses and more diverse businesses to grow.”

The incentives include prioritising single-point investment facilitation; fast-tracking building plan, occupancy certificates and land use applications; and a building plan and land use application-fee waiver.

They also include a development contribution deferral and the writing off up to R1-million, as well as special electricity tariffs for a period of two years.

Meanwhile, Vos says, in the past financial year, the unit has engaged with 247 companies and organisations, resulting in breaking ground on investment projects valued at close to R15-billion.

The unit also expanded the Atlantis Investment Facilitation Office, which will focus on broadening investment opportunities in and around the area, particularly the community’s booming greentech industry.

During the period, the unit also initiated a business retention and expansion programme and a Covid-19 industrial action plan, as well as distributed about 30 000 small, medium-sized and microenterprise toolkits and booklets.

Further, over 20 investments have been supported and confirmed, including Amazon Web Services, he says.

INVESTMENT DRIVE
Partnerships with CoCT-funded SBPs have also helped to lay the groundwork for a fertile investment environment in Cape Town, says Vos.

“Through a genuine analysis of the metro’s economic geography, my team and I were able to gain an understanding of what stifles people and economic growth and, inversely, understand which sectors are able to absorb more people for training and then job placement,” he adds.

These SBPs have helped to bring R9.7-billion in direct investments into Cape Town, directly creating 10 194 jobs and contributing to the training of a further 3 405 people in various skills suitable for the sectors of information technology, call centre agencies, greentech, craft and design and clothing and textile sectors, during the 2020/21 financial year, states Vos.