Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality home to the only river port in Southern Africa, is located on the eastern seaboard of South Africa. The city plays a pivotal role for trade, industry, culture and tourism.
The prosperity of the area is built on the automotive sector, led by Mercedes Benz. Other industries include agriculture, electronics, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, confectionary and textiles. The city’s thriving Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) is in easy access to the port. The Port of East London, home to the famous Dolos and a symbol of local pride, is a catalyst to the city’s economic growth. It provides cost-effective access to international markets creating modern motor-vehicle, container, grain, ship-repair and liquid-bulk infrastructure. It is a growing destination for cruise tourism.
Recently, an MOU signed between the Metro, Port and IDZ, showed commitment to joint development of the city. The port expansion and upgrade of the waterfront at Latimer’s Landing will kickstart this initiative.
Why did you decide to join AIVP?
We are a Port city however port development has been fairly stagnant over a number of years and Metro sees the development of the Port as a catalyst to economic growth for the region. So we see this as an opportunity to learn from what other cities are doing and also share what we are trying to do as the city.
What are you expecting from this membership?
Accessing international expertise, access to international networks, knowledge and training through the programme and access to funding sources.
What can you bring to AIVP? (expertise, information on projects, others.)
BCMM, the Port and the East London Industrial Development Zone are partners and all there have immense expertise and experiences that they can bring to the table. An MOU was recently signed so as partners we are new to working together and as the projects become identified and implemented the results can be shared with the network.
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