During the opening of the legislature, Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba reaffirmed the Province’s resolve to organizing the annual investment conference. The Premier identified economic development as the most important aspect of resolving the socio-economic imperatives facing the province, particularly when investment pledges become tangible projects.
Dilo di tjhentjhile (Things have changed) is the Premier’s service delivery brand promise to the people of Limpopo, the country and the world at large. During the consultative meeting with the conference planning team led by MEC Tshitereke Matibe of the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET), Premier Ramathuba emphasized the need for this province to establish a back office beyond the conference to follow-up on all the pledges to ensure pledges reported during the conference comes to fruition.
The Premier said that these follow-ups will facilitate ongoing collaboration between the provincial government and the investors, to reduce bureaucratic redtape and barriers that delay the implementation of projects.
During the third instalment of the conference, R37.5-billion in pledges were committed by investors and the commitment by the planning team is to raise R30-billion in the fourth edition of the conference. “This conference has added a new chapter in our transformation & development journey to build a better South Africa for all,” continued the Premier.
Premier Ramathuba has all the reasons to celebrate this momentous occasion, given the steady progress on Limpopo Province as an investment destination as well as the international media attention the province receives globally during the conference.
The economic profile of Limpopo Province reflects growth of sectors that are relevant to global interests, such as agriculture, mining, and tourism. Whether the subject is food security, renewable energy or nature conservation and biodiversity, the province is endowed with all these natural resources.
Over the two days of the conference, which is modelled on plenary and panel discussions, the focus will be to unlock opportunities in mining, tourism, agriculture, energy, infrastructure & logistics, the automotive industry and the value chains and support provided by various government entities to investors.
Tourism, for example, is the biggest contributor to economies around the world and Limpopo should take advantage of the movement of local and international tourists that are attracted to its destinations, according to Premier Ramathuba.
The Waterberg and Vhembe districts are rich in biodiversity and game farms, including the Big Five. During the hunting seasons, these districts see unprecedented numbers of tourists from across the country and Europe. The commercialization of some of the parks is a positive step towards the transformation of the sector. Through this investment conference hope to have a multiplier effect for the growth of the tourism sector over time.
This investment conference ultimately seeks to create an ecosystem of companies through forward and backward linkages and integration, to beneficiate raw materials through value chain processes that will bring meaningful contribution to the industrialization agenda of the province.
The implementation of pledges into realized investment is a demonstration that the province is on the right track towards the stimulation of economic growth. From a broader perspective, the conference is a platform to achieve many objectives, such as to create awareness and exposure of the abundance of resources in the province, create synergy and cohesion of a single vision for private and public sector initiatives, and raise the profile of the province’s capacity to organize international conferences and events.
The Premier believes that the province should do more to raise its flag not only in the country, but the world over. She attributes the success of previous conferences to the number of international dignitaries, executives of multinational companies and senior executives from national and continental multilateral institutions who attended the conference, either physically or virtually.
Find out more: https://limpopoinvestmentconference.co.za/
The proliferation of mining activities in the Sekhukhune District and the expansion of Phalaborwa Mining Company is notable progress for job creation and wealth generation for the country. However, more jobs and wealth creation can be achieved if these products are beneficiated and packaged for distribution to markets globally.
This investment conference ultimately seeks to create an ecosystem of companies through forward and backward linkages and integration, to beneficiate raw materials through value chain processes that will bring meaningful contribution to the industrialization agenda of the province. The multiplier effect will be enormous to manufacturing SMEs in the province.
Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba takes a global view of the Limpopo Province.
The Limpopo economic spectrum is diverse and is characterized by traditional and new growth sectors across the five districts. The potential strength of these sectors to drive growth is hampered by low level of infrastructure. Infrastructure investment is required to match all untapped economic development opportunities at the scale equivalent to these sectors.
“We need to take a broader view of the province to create traction around Limpopo’s unique proposition not only to the country, but the world at large. Economic growth should not be narrowly defined as the function of investment promotion; however, it should broadly be seen through integration and harmonization of culture, a diverse knowledge system and our natural resources,” said Premier Ramathuba during the International Tourism Day address hosted in the province.
The Premier places Limpopo Province’s unique and rich cultural diversity as key ingredient to re-positioning the province as preferred destination for world travellers.
Tourism remains the biggest contributor to economies the world over. It exposes world travellers and holiday makers to unique offerings of different countries. The province of Limpopo is not only a melting pot for cultural diversity, blending three ethnic groups, but also home to two World Heritage sites, Mapunguve and Makapan Vally. The packaging of Limpopo should deliberately reflect these saliant points so that our envisioned tourism growth leverage immensely on these aspects.
“It must be noted,” continued Premier Ramathuba, “that the province has made huge strides in terms of promoting the mining sector opportunities in China. However, the proportion of Chinese tourists visiting Limpopo compared to other provinces, such as Gauteng and Western Cape, is low. China is very big on culture, huge on numbers and should be used to the benefit of the province.”
Having worked as technocrat, accounting officer, etc. in government and later member of the Executive Council, Premier Ramathuba is a well-rounded law maker who understand the socio-economic imperatives facing the province. She understands and appreciates that ordinary people of the province are its heritage, that the province’s economy can only be said to be moving forward if it is inclusive and contribute to the growth of enterprises in the length and breadth of the province.
In her interaction with stakeholders, and business communities in particular, Premier Ramathuba continuously articulated her vision for the province and the immediate focal points on economic recovery plans. Throughout her interaction with senior management echelons across government departments and agencies, she appealed for efficiency and diligence in the execution of service delivery mandates.
“Our endeavour is to create a conduce environment for businesses to thrive and open markets for emerging businesses to accelerate enterprise development and promote manufacturing of products for domestic and export markets.”
Refurbishment of Seshego and Nkowankowa Industrial Parks will further enhance the province’s township and rural economy revitalizations. Manufacturing is key to driving SMME development into the mainstream economy. “Our industrial parks should be the breeding ground for large scale industrial players – as we embark on the industrialization of the province towards beneficiation of the industrial base, we have to create a pool of industrialists through these parks to ensure that we are able to facilitate meaningful backward / forward integration with multinationals investing in the province,” concluded Premier Ramathuba.
As the province embarks of the economic recovery the Premier calls for a single vision across agencies and for public and private sector entities to collaborate in a coordinated effort to promote the province as a unique product with diverse selling points and to fix the damage caused by sluggish economic growth.
