Before 2005, investment in North West Province had an average growth rate of less than 3%. Since then the province has turned the corner, actively seeking investment and sending the pace of its economic growth to 5.1%. The province’s official unemployment rate has been shaved down from 28% to 27.4%, driven to a large extent by growth in the mining sector.

Mining is the key economic player in this so-called Platinum Province, and with this sector increasing its dominance in the provincial economy from 20.1% in 1996 to 24.7% in 2005, and on to 36.6% today, the province appears to be on track towards its ambitious target of achieving an average economic growth rate of 6.6% and halving unemployment by the year 2014.

North West today has, according to the provincial investment agency Invest North West, an annual production worth around R28-billion. The provincial economy is about twice the size of neighbouring Botswana and about the same size as the Kenyan economy. The province has great potential for further growth, and has much to offer investors. North West is rich in natural resources, and this – combined with its warm, temperate climate – means that mining, agriculture and their related industries are the ripest for the plucking.

The province is predominantly rural in nature, and its economic centres tend to be self-contained and strategically located. Although much of the investment activity (including mining and property investments) is happening at the province’s economic hub of Rustenburg, investments in other centres are increasing, most notably in the provincial capital Mafikeng.

Significantly, North West has three spatial development initiatives (SDIs), which include an industrial development zone (IDZ) at Mafikeng International Airport. The Platinum SDI will form the strategic link in the coast-to-coast corridor stretching from Maputo in Mozambique on the Indian Ocean to Walvis Bay in Namibia on the Atlantic Ocean. Economic activity along this Platinum Corridor accounts for more than 30% of the province’s total employment – allowing investors to tap into the mining, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, electricity, water, gas, transport and financial sectors.

The Treasure Route SDI runs through North West from Gauteng to the Northern Cape, and covers the gold mining regions around Klerksdorp (Matlosane). Mining contributes over 40% of this SDI’s GGP, with Klerksdorp accounting for about 99% of the corridor’s mining output, and several small and medium enterprises tapping into mining-related industries.

The relatively small Western Frontier SDI contains the IDZ at Mafikeng International Airport, with investment opportunities here amounting to an expected R7-billion. Projects will include an agricultural park, minerals park and trading floor, and a common customs secure area for the South African Development Community region.

As far as recent mining investments are concerned, Platmin announced plans in late 2007 to build a R1.67-billion platinum mine in the Pilanesberg, while Namakwa Diamonds said earlier this year that it was looking to increase production at its North West operations to some 25-million tons a year by the end of 2009.

With 87 large-scale active mines, North West has more mining activity than most countries. But natural resources have the tendency to run dry eventually (even if it is many years hence). In March 2007, provincial premier Edna Molewa told an investment seminar that the province’s ultimate goal was to ensure community beneficiation even after mineral deposits had been exhausted.

In late 2007, the Cairo-based Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) announced investment of about R3.2-billion in a new cement plant, to be built and operated by Mafikeng Cement Company. This announcement came as something of a shake-up to the local cement industry, with the three major players, PPC, Lafarge and Holcim, already operating in this market. The OCI plant, which will begin producing by 2010, will have a production capacity of two million tons per year and is expected to employ thousands of local people.

Other sectors too are presenting growth and investment opportunities. An example of this is the agricultural sector, with its related industries like meat and leather processing. The leather processing industry is in turn related to the automotive industry – and here North West shows the advantages of its strategic location. An automotive corridor exists from Botswana (Hyundai) through to Brits (Robert Bosch, Firestone) and Rosslyn (BMW, Nissan) to Pretoria, with several associated firms (original equipment and aftermarket) serving the industries along the way.

Finally, the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg is set to serve as a host venue for the 2010 Fifa World Cup – and as this drives tourism and infrastructure, investment in the North West Province will surely continue to grow.

Invest North West