The City of Cape Town’s Economic Growth Directorate is all set to implement its business retention and expansion programme in areas across Cape Town over the coming year, says Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.
He says the City’s Business Retention and Expansion Programme, managed by the Investment Facilitation Branch (IFB) in the Enterprise and Investment Department, will assist large and small businesses with strategies to keep their doors open and, where possible, help expedite their operational expansion.
“The pandemic and related lockdowns had a severely negative impact on businesses but this is not only about minimising the effects of this situation.
“We aim to build a stronger, more resilient future for businesses and ultimately the people of Cape Town,” he said. Vos said since its establishment in 2017, the branch has engaged with hundreds of businesses and secured investments with more than 20 companies worth billions of rands and thousands of job opportunities.
“These include a renewable energy enterprise in Atlantis, a food and beverage group in Ndabeni, a call centre in Diep River, a clothing and textile business in Bellville, and an electronics organisation in Airport Industria.
“We need to be responsive to new supply-and-demand dynamics to ensure our industries are most well-placed to emerge from this crisis and receive the support they need to thrive, and as part of this the City’s Business Retention and Expansion Programme will be progressively rolled out in Cape Town’s industrial areas over the next 18 months,” he said.
The programme will include a survey of businesses in key economic nodes that will be conducted in partnership with various enterprise support organisations.
The survey will help to identify and address business environmental issues that fall within the City’s control, and issues that the City can influence that may hold back economic growth in these areas, said Vos.
He added the programme is the latest in a series of City initiatives aimed at supporting businesses as they restore their operations in the post-lockdown period.
Other initiatives include the development programme offered by The Business Hub, the Investment Incentives Platform, a business rescue programme with Productivity SA, and a load curtailment programme to reduce the impact of load-shedding and the Industrial Areas Hot-spot Action Plan.
“The City stands ready to partner with businesses, other spheres of government, its strategic business partners and private sector stakeholders to devise sustainable and inclusive pathways through this period of economic recovery and re-growth,” Vos urged.
. Email investment.facilitation@capetown.gov.za for more information.
