National government puts its weight behind Northern Cape economic growth plans
The Northern Cape is targeting industrialisation and beneficiation to grow its GDP from R164bn to R200bn and create at least 60,000 sustainable new jobs by 2030. The strategy focuses on the mining, renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, tourism and manufacturing sectors.
South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau; the Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams; and the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho David Ramokgopa, highlighted the Northern Cape’s growth potential to over 900 prospective investors, business and finance industry stakeholders at the conference this week.
Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul opened the proceedings by highlighting initiatives to support economic growth in the province, such as the Northern Cape Deal Making Chamber, the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and Northern Cape Province Transformation Fund, and the dtic and InvestSA One Stop Shop (OSS) for investors.
“Our progress in terms of GDP growth and reducing unemployment indicates that we are on a trajectory to become the country’s new growth front,” he said. The Premier said mining remained a primary driver of growth in the province, along with agriculture and energy generation.
“The energy transition is reshaping South Africa’s investment geography, and the Northern Cape is central to that. We also believe the next 100 years of mining in South Africa are centred right here in the Northern Cape. There are currently as many as 156 active mines in the province, and a growing number of applications for prospecting and mining in the province,” he said.
Growth potential in the digital age
Minister Tau noted: “The Northern Cape has the land, sun and the wind to become one of Africa's pre-eminent renewable energy production zones. Through Boegoebaai and the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy, it has the infrastructure anchor to build a hydrogen economy of genuine scale. These are live policies and programmes with government commitment and investor interest behind them.
Beyond energy, the Northern Cape's vast open spaces, low population density and potential water access through desalination make it an ideal destination for data centres - among the fastest-growing infrastructure investment categories globally. And agriculture, particularly in raisins, table grapes, dates and protein crops, remains a strong foundation with significant room for agro-processing and value chain development.”
He said the dtic had structured its approach to industrialisation around three organising themes, namely: decarbonisation, diversification, and digitalisation.
“These 3Ds align almost precisely with where the Northern Cape's competitive advantages lie,” the Minister said. “The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is already changing the calculus for South African exporters. Our response is to position our industrial base as a low-carbon production platform. Green hydrogen, green steel, and battery storage are sectors where the Northern Cape's feedstock advantages allow us to compete. The Just Energy Transition Investment Plan is mobilising capital for exactly this shift. This is how we decarbonise.”
“On Diversification, we are building manufacturing value chains beyond our traditional strengths. Rather than exporting manganese ore, we want to export manganese products. Rather than exporting iron ore, we want to export steel. The logic of beneficiation is clear, and the Northern Cape's mineral endowment makes it a natural site for that industrial deepening.”
Minister Tau added: “The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and our Special Economic Zones (SEZ) programme are the institutions and instruments we are deploying to make that happen. In relation to the unilateral imposition of tariffs, by some countries, we are also diversifying our trading partners. We are building new networks across the world and leveraging our Global South partners. We are doing this derisking while continuing to strengthen the relationships we have with our traditional partners.”
“On Digitalisation, the infrastructure requirements of the digital economy - power, land, connectivity - increasingly overlap with what this province can offer,” he said. “Data centres create skilled jobs, require local supply chains, and build the platform for broader digital industrialisation.
The Northern Cape has the conditions to lead that story. These three pillars of our industrial policy are simultaneous and mutually reinforcing. An investment in green hydrogen here is a decarbonisation investment, a diversification investment, and a digital infrastructure investment. That convergence is precisely what makes this province so strategically compelling right now.”
A growing powerhouse
Minister Ramokgopa emphasised the Northern Cape’s massive green energy growth potential.
He noted: “South Africa has some of the highest solar irradiation levels globally, with the strongest resources concentrated in the Northern Cape and central interior. This enables high energy yields and highly competitive solar generation capacity of up to 4.7kW per square km.
South Africa also benefits from strong and consistent wind speeds along the eastern, eastern and northern cape coastlines, creating prime conditions for large scale wind deployment.”
The Minister also highlighted key minerals required for producing renewable energy components, including copper, manganese, silicon, lithium, nickel, graphite, zinc, graphite, chromium and manganese. The Northern Cape in South Africa is emerging as a critical hub for rare earth elements that are crucial for electric vehicles and renewable energy, including over 77% of the world's on-land manganese resources.
South Africa has the potential to become a green energy ‘battery’ of the continent, with the Northern Cape at the heart of new energy generation, he said.
MSMEs key to job creation
Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams emphasised the importance of supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to underpin the Northern Cape’s goal of sustainable job creation.
She noted that Section 22 of the Constitution of South Africa guaranteed every citizen the right to choose their trade, occupation, or profession freely.
“This places a responsibility on all of us to ensure that this right exists in practice, within an enabling and investment-friendly environment,” the Minister said.
"Because the NDP says that 85% - 90% of jobs will come from small enterprises, it is a national imperative that MSMEs and cooperatives must be at the centre of the decisions we make.”
She noted: “We must be deliberate about how we use the investment flowing to us. Not all investments create jobs, and not all jobs created will be sustainable. We need instruments to ensure that we create sustainable jobs and that entrepreneurs benefit from investment.”
The Minister said: “We will meet investors halfway by making sure the entrepreneurs they contract and subcontract in the Northern Cape are ready to participate in the value chain of their investments. We look forward to supporting entrepreneurs through funding readiness and technical readiness.”
Partners invited to unlock opportunities
The Northern Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Lerato Venus Blennies-Magage, said that for too long, South Africa’s economic activity had been clustered in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal.
The Northern Cape development strategy aimed to change this, with investment, beneficiation and industrialisation. “Our message is simple - if you mine in the Northern Cape, you must process in the Northern Cape. Products grown in the province must be processed and packaged here,” she said.
The MEC invited investors and business stakeholders to take advantage of the opportunities in the province: “Partner with us, invest with us, and build with us.”