By Nangamso Mabindla

Accelerated local economic development is under the spotlight at the two-day South African Cities Network symposium being held in East London, in Buffalo City, on 3 and 4 April.

Through the symposium, the cities network aims to develop local economies in line with the national Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, or Asgisa. That strategy seeks to break down barriers to economic growth and to ensure that this growth produces more jobs.

Speakers from organisations like the International City/Council Management Society, the United States Agency for International Development (ICMA) and three local municipalities are attending the symposium.

Through partnerships with international organisations like the ICMA the cities network has set up a knowledge exchange programme on local economic development planning and implementation between Buffalo City, Mangaung (Bloemfontein) and Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) local municipalities.

Sithole Mbanga, the chief executive of the cities network, said participants at the symposium also aimed to share experiences and lessons gained from the exchange programme and how these could be used by other cities in the context of accelerated and shared growth.

"The president has given us a mandate to grow our economy by 6 percent through Asgisa, and local government has a very significant role to play [to enable us] to achieve this target. That is why we have chosen the theme 'Accelerated and shared growth in South African cities,'" Mbanga said.

He added that symposium participants would look at other objectives, including discussing national policy on local economic development. The focus would be on Asgisa and local economic development guidelines developed by the Department of Provincial and Local Government.

Deputy Minister of Provincial and Local Government Nomatyala Hangana said that local economic development was one of the key instruments in developmental local government.

"Local government has a great responsibility in the quest to push back the frontiers of poverty while accelerating growth. We need to work together and integrate our programmes when it comes to economic development."

She said that for the country to have a 6 percent annual economic growth all spheres of government and businesses needed to work together. "If we want to achieve this we need to address underdevelopment and stabilise intergovernmental relations. We also need to build financially viable municipalities that are able to accelerate service delivery."

Although a 6 percent annual growth was achievable, it would not be easy. "I would like to leave you at the symposium with this question: are we ready for this growth with regards to infrastructure, skills and service delivery?"

Alistair Fray, also from her department, said that for municipalities to accelerate local economic development they needed to plan the strategies to suite their citizens. "Municipalities must start having clear strategies to deal with economic development in their areas, especially when it comes to informal business. Do not fight against them, help them reach their potential."

Places like Buffalo City needed to start thinking about boosting investment prospects by improving the beachfront and attracting investors back to places like Dimbaza, where more than 150 factories have closed down, leaving more than 40 000 people unemployed.

To show its commitment to local economic development and strengthening partnerships with its stakeholders, in February Buffalo City held a two-day indaba focused on the city's economic growth prospects.

Source: Buffalo City