South Africa’s Coega Development Corporation (CDC), in keeping with Pretoria’s call to promote the development and economic integration of Africa, has decided to invest US$386 million in various economic projects in several African countries, an fficial has said.
The firm’s marketing development programme has decided to extend its investments to Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic, CDC spokesperson Ayanda Vilakazi said on Wednesday.
“Through its African Trade and Investment Solutions Strategy, the CDC is championing the country’s enterprise for business between South Africa and the rest of the continent,” Vilakazi said.
The CDC’s programme in Zimbabwe would provide consulting services to develop the Norton (Lentsloane) and Eco-Soft Special Economic Zones, privately owned facilities by TD Holdings in the capital Harare, he said.
“TD Holdings has interest in other businesses, which include, among others, Energy, Capital, Lunar Global Foods, Sunlands Eco-Estate, and Redwing Agro-City. The sod-turning for the special economic zones (SEZ) is planned for November 2020,” the official said.
He said the focus is on “advisory services for the Water Treatment Plant in Harare, with an estimated investment value in excess of US$15 million; SEZ and dry port in Harare’s Norton area, with an estimated investment value of US$336 million.”
The CDC said it has also obtained a 20-year concession of logistics bases in Douala in the Cameroon for the development of a dry port for the storage of goods. This project will kick off in April 2021, with an estimated investment value of US$30 million.
The CDC, however, was still awaiting confirmation of multimillion dollar projects in Cameroon and the DRC, it added.
“These developments are positive for South Africa, and CDC in particular, given the recent establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area, with its 1.3 billion people and $3.4 trillion economy,” the CDC said.
Vilakazi said the CDC was responding to the continental strategy that was set out by the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
NM/jn/APA