Johannesburg - Multi-billion rand industrial development complex, Coega Development Corporation (CDC), is confident about the year ahead as it plans to implement two of major projects - the automotive manufacturing plant and a gas-to-power project.
In a statement last Friday, CDC said it had created 18366 jobs in the past financial year in addition to attracting billions of rands in new investments. CDC is the operator of the Port Elizabeth-based Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) project that covers 150 500 hectares of land.
It is located adjacent to the deep-water Port of Ngqura and just a few kilometres from the Port Elizabeth port and its container, car, break-bulk and bulk terminals. It was established in 1999 and is divided into 14 zones that provide investment opportunities for local and international investors. To date the project has attracted over 54 new investors with over R30 billion investment.
Great strides
Ayanda Vilakazi, a spokeswoman for CDC, said the project had made great strides in creating jobs the Eastern Cape.
“Five hundred and fifty five people are currently contracted on the projects in the IDZ, 70 percent of whom are Nelson Mandela Bay-based residents. Giving credence to our vision to become the leading catalyst for championing of the socio-economic growth,” said Vilakazi.
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She said the CDC had 36 operational investors with a combined investment value of R6.6 billion.
The corporation has more than six projects currently under construction with at least five of these expected to become operational by the end of this year.
Projects
The corporation intends to implement two key projects this year. The first being the construction commencement of Beijing Automobile International Corporation (Baic) for a completely knocked down automotive manufacturing plant and the implementation of energy related projects such as the gas-to-power progamme with 1 000 megawatts of the power facility allocated to the IDZ.
The historic R11 billion Baic project was announced last year and would largely be funded by Baic and the Industrial Development Corporation. It was mooted as China’s biggest automotive investment in Africa over the last 40 years.