By Nangamso Mabindla

There is a lot happening in Buffalo City that enables it to contribute to the government’s target of a 6 percent annual economic growth rate, according to the City’s general manager for local economic development, Noludwe Ncokazi.

Ncokazi was speaking to delegates at a two-day symposium that brought together the South African Cities Network and the International City/Council Management Society (ICMA). Held in East London, in Buffalo City, on 3 and 4 April, the symposium focused on local economic development.

There were many local economic growth initiatives in the city. These included the Industrial Development Zone, which aimed to lure investment to the city; the Eastern Cape Development Zone; the Border Kei Chamber of Business; Tourism Buffalo City and other initiatives.

Despite this potential, Ncokazi said that the city needed to have strategic direction. “Even though we have a lot going for us, we need to have these entities working together. [At present] we have separate development; we will have to start working together to achieve the 6 percent growth.”

Efforts to improve partnerships between the City and business were already in place. For example, earlier this year the Border Kei Chamber of Business held a two-day Future Search Think Tank indaba that focused on the city’s economic growth prospects. It was held at the Mpekweni holiday resort in Port Alfred, and representatives from the City went along to get an understanding of the thinking of the city’s business community.

However, since 1998 the city had lost more than 40 000 textile jobs, pushing unemployment to over 40 percent. It was also too reliant on the automotive industry, with DaimlerChrysler, the car maker, the next largest employer after the municipality with more than 3 000 employees.

There was a need to have diversity in economic development and the City aimed to develop a diverse strategy to deal with investment and decrease unemployment. One of these strategies was Invest Buffalo City, which aimed to bring in investment while retaining existing business.

“The strategy will focus on bringing investment into the city [and] business retention. We aim to elevate Invest BC’s profile in key business circles quickly and to score early employment success,” Ncokazi said.

Business retention was also very important and the City would focus on keeping existing businesses happy to prevent industry flight and to encourage plant expansion. It would identify at-risk companies and would intervene with local, provincial and national agencies to avert lay offs.

“We would also like to reduce the impact of lay-offs by improving rapid response services and marketing the available workforce,” she added.

Despite its challenges, the city had all the right structures in place for economic development.

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Source: Buffalo City