THE Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau visited the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) in KwaZulu-Natal last week and expressed confidence and satisfaction regarding the impact the zone’s progress is having. The RBIDZ has received funding from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) Special Economic Zone programme, and has R252.4 billion in investment in the pipeline with 23 investors and one strategic partner.
Tau was joined by the Deputy Minister of the Department of Science and Technology, Nomalungelo Gina, the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Musa Zondi and the MEC for Transport and Human Settlement, Siboniso Duma.
During his tour, Tau visited Nyanza Light Metals. The company is constructing a R15 billion titanium dioxide pigment manufacturing plant in the RBIDZ. The plant will be the only one of its kind in Africa and will employ 3,000 people during construction and up to 850 permanent jobs during operations.
“The project has attracted financing from the DTIC’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) programme, which establishes designated, geographically focused areas to attract foreign and domestic investment, aiming to accelerate industrial growth, exports, and job creation. Several development finance institutions, including the Industrial Development Corporation, the African Development Bank, and other partners such as the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have funded the project and have committed to supporting it as co-mandated lead arrangers,” said Tau.
“We are particularly thrilled about this initiative because it presents a model that can be replicated in similar projects. It shows how private sector funding can be mobilised alongside support from development finance institutions at both national and continental levels, as well as international partners. Significantly, the project also mobilises technology transfer from China, which is indicative of our ability to build our industrial base in the country and in terms of our ability to ensure that we beneficiate material locally and we ensure that industrialisation happens at source,” said Tau.
“We are at a point where we are ready to implement. Amongst others, the contract was signed for piling, which would be to prepare the infrastructure for the development to take place. So, for the next few months, you will see massive infrastructure investment, and the building of the actual plant that would be able to produce on this site,” said the chief executive officer of RBIDZ, Thabane Zulu.
The Nyanza Light Metals project received direct support of R118 million from the DTIC, and the RBIDZ received R920 million from the DTIC to fund the top structure and bulk infrastructure to accommodate the plant.