Energy and the economics around it are identified as the main drivers for investors, so in this respect the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ) is ahead of its game, according to Fikile Majola, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Commerce (DTIC).
He praised SBIDZ and the Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus (SB-IC) for initiating a three-part series of webinars focusing on a just energy transition. “The ocean economy makes an enormous contribution to the country’s GDP by playing a significant role in generating much-needed jobs. The maritime economy holds immense potential to create a thriving ecosystem in which entrepreneurs can be incubated and grow.”
Majola delivered the keynote address at the inaugural Energy Transition Webinar on Tuesday 15 February. Its theme was “Smart manufacturing in the marine and energy sector through a special economic zone lens”.
He said the webinar took place “at the time the country, like the rest of the world, is hard at work to reconstruct, reposition and repurpose our economy to attain inclusive economic growth.” The deputy minister pointed out that the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) programme had a crucial role to play in supporting the implementation of the country’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.
A panel discussion, moderated by SBIDZ CEO Kaashifah Beukes, included contributions from Dr Ajith Gopal, Executive Manager, Future Production: Manufacturing, CSIR, Philippa Rodseth, Executive Director, Manufacturing Circle, Lindokuhle Ntanti, Project Manager & Investment Promotion, Coega Development Corporation, and Ilse Karg, Chief Director: Fourth Industrial Revolution, DTIC.
Beukes said she looked forward to following up on the deputy minister’s invitation to have a conversation about how to unlock and facilitate the development of appropriate infrastructure required to enhance the maritime and smart manufacturing sectors within the Zone.
According to Gopal, smart manufacturing technologies are definitely applicable to the marine industry. He cited the example of how the automotive sector had successfully adopted advanced manufacturing innovations. “Digital technologies and transformation to make more effective manufacturing and business processes [means] smart manufacturing is a big enabler for local industry.”
However, Gopal emphasised more should be done to generate awareness and adopt these technologies.
Karg agreed that the adoption of smart manufacturing technology was slow. To assist with the adoption of smart technologies, the DTIC, in collaboration with TIPS and the Department of Science and Innovation is developing an observatory for smart technologies to share information with the relevant industry sectors.
Rodseth focused on the circular economy and what she termed “industrial symbiosis” – when one company’s waste can be input for another company. Beukes echoed this, referencing the SBIDZ green ship recycling project that breaks down discarded vessels into constituent parts and in turn energises the next stage of its life in the value chain.
. The next webinar will take place in April and focuses on Saldanha Bay as a possible green hydrogen hub.
