Dear Editor
I have received a parliamentary reply from the Provincial Minister of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), Mireille Wenger, which demonstrated that between 2011 to 2021, the Western Cape received R103.13 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into our technology sector.
This shows that the DA-led Western Cape Government is successfully positioning the province as the tech hub of Africa.
According to DEDAT, total FDI into the province’s communications sector totalled R55.24 billion during this period, which represents 41.02% of the total FDI in the province. Owing to this, the Western Cape is one of the top 5 performers for inward FDI into Africa’s communications sector.
The renewable energy sector also has seen an impressive 13.36% of our total FDI, translating to R17.99 billion over the same period, which is promising news given the country’s energy crisis. The business services sector further contributed R16.73 billion (12.42% of our total inward FDI received).
The province’s world-class software and ICT services further received 61 projects with a total value of R13.17 billion of inward FDI over this period. This shows that there is a growing interest, globally, in our province’s service offering.
Going forward, I will be writing to the Provincial Minister to enquire about what measures are being taken to make the tech sector more inclusive, while further supporting emerging industries in the tech space – to ensure that the province’s tech eco-system maintains its competitive edge as the tech hub of Africa.
DEDAT has done sterling work in supporting this inflow of FDI, together with Wesgro, enabling foreign investors to bring their business to the province. Some of the interventions from the Department aimed at attracting foreign investment include:
• Global marketing initiatives such as the Global Tech Positioning Project, through which Wesgro developed the “Africa’s Tech Capital” brand to represent the tech industry in the Cape.
• The “10 Reasons to Invest in Tech in Cape Town and the Western Cape”, which is a targeted promotional media campaign for international investors and aims to communicate the province’s value proposition.
• Participation in international tech events such as Vivatech in Paris, the Africa Tech Festival (Cape Town, November) and Africa Games Week (Cape Town, December).
The tremendous amount of foreign investment into the Western Cape tech sector shows what is possible when the government is committed to fostering investment instead of overregulating possible growth sectors.
Regards
Cayla Murray
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism
