Picture: The North West acting Premier, Nono Maloyi at BRICS Summit in Sandton/Supplied
By OBAKENG MAJE
The much anticipated Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) Summit kicked off at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg today. The Summit is held under the theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism” and is expected to last until Thursday.
The Summit brings together Heads of State and Government from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa with atleast 30 other Heads of State and Government from Africa and all across the world expected to attend.
The North West acting Premier, Nono Maloyi said they hosted an Investment Forum on Tuesday at Sandton on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. Maloyi said the primary objective of this initiative is to promote trade and investment within the province to BRICS nations and the developing world.
“This includes promoting economic collaboration as well as attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) on high-value projects such as the Bojanala Special Economic Zone, which has already attracted 14 projects with an investment pipeline of R13 514 billion.
“We urge businesses to prioritise the province given its immense mineral wealth and natural resources. The province is endowed with mineral resources and forms part and parcel of the richest platinum belt, which accounts for 70% of the total reserves in the world,” he said.
In addition, Maloyi further said, the province currently has over 3000 active mines with investment opportunities ranging from exploration, processing in the form of smelters and refineries, as well as provision of mining equipment among others.
He added that Agriculture and Tourism are also the largest economic drivers in the province.
“The North West is currently the top producer of beetroot, the second biggest producer of sunflower and carrots, and a major contributor to the exports of maize in the country. Investment opportunities in the Tourism sector include resort development at Lindleyspoort Dam, hotel and conferencing facilities at Bloemhof Dam Reserve as well as the Sun City Theme Park.
“These initiatives are aimed at repositioning the province as a preferred choice for investments. We are hard at work to reposition our province as an ideal destination for investments. Last year, we saw mining companies like Sedibelo Platinum Mine investing over R9 billion rand at their operations in Moses Kotane Local Municipality,” said Maloyi.
He said they want to diversify the economy, particularly within the agriculture and tourism sectors. Maloyi said they are currently in talks with various business entities to revamp two airports.
“Our province is a gateway to the SADC region and the revitalization of these two airports will assist a great deal in the movement of goods across various countries in the region and the continent while creating socio-economic for our people,” he said.
The Guardian 