Eastern Cape
South Africa
Sector
Aquaculture & Mariculture
Biotechnology
Energy
Businesses, both in East London and those further afield, are being urged to consider relocating to the region’s Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) to take advantage of the various benefits on offer.
ELIDZ has already proven to be a huge success story, having attracted a host of automotive and component manufacturers and the organisers behind the zone are now turning their attention to a range of other sectors.
Why choose ELIDZ?
Located in the Eastern Cape, South Africa’s second largest province, East London is an attractive destination for businesses with its excellent transportation links including national road, rail and air networks as well as the highly efficient East London Port.
The East London IDZ is a world-class 430 hectare industrial park and was South Africa’s first operational Industrial Development Zones.
Who should move to ELIDZ?
ELIDZ recently announced that with its value proposition for the automotive industry successfully completed it was diversifying away from its traditional model of targeting automotive investments into a number of new key sectors.
The success of the Automotive Supplier Park at the IDZ has already helped to grow the local economy substantially and the IDZ is now aiming to repeat that success in a number of new sectors including renewable energy, mariculture and biofuels.
Renewable energy attracts investors
East London IDZ is hoping to the current energy crisis into a positive as it continues in its quest to attract more investors.
“The East London IDZ also dealt with a number of enquiries and is following promising leads in the alternative energy sub-sector, especially following the electricity crisis,” added Kondlo.
Turning his attention to other developments Kondlo said the company was working hard to replicate the success of its ASP for other clusters and industries.
Investors interested in Mariculture
“The East London IDZ has received a number of enquiries for the mariculture industry and currently has several interested investors in the pipeline," said Kondlo.
“We are currently looking at putting in concrete facilities that will be a draw card for the mariculture and agro-processing, and these are almost along the same lines as the ASP. This is something the East London IDZ can achieve in the coming year,” he added.
Kondlo also noted that the ELIDZ is the perfect destination for mariculture investment. "Studies attest to the East London IDZ rating among the best locations in South Africa in terms of quality of water, and various other conditions required for this sector to thrive."
Opportunities in Biofuels
In an effort to ensure that Elidz keeps up with the global plans of using green fuels to reduce damage to the environment, Kondlo said the East London IDZ has also refined its value proposition for the biofuels industry.
“Currently, the zone has a very positive enquiry in its pipeline and is working together with key stakeholders to ensure that this potential investor’s expectations are met,” said Kondlo.
It is expected that a biofuels refinery in the IDZ will be built at a cost of around R2.5 billion and use some R2.4 billion worth of canola, grown by local farmers; with about 70 per cent of the biodiesel produced expected to be exported to Europe.
For more information on these and other opportunities at the East London IDZ, please contact:
Name: Ms Ayanda Ramncwana
Tel: +27 43 702
8200
Email: ayanda@elidz.co.za
