Nyandeni Local Municipality is home to two rural towns - Libode and Ngqeleni - as well as a vast coastal and rural hinterland, made up of 282 villages. Nyandeni Local Municipality is located in OR Tambo District, strategically situated on the R61 road between Mthatha and the coastal town of Port St. Johns. The road is being upgraded to be the new N2 Wild Coast Toll Road from Durban to East London.
Nyandeni has game and nature reserves such as Hluleka and Ntlangano as well as six beaches which include Mthatha Mouth and Mdumbi Beach, previously voted for as of the most beautiful beaches in South Africa. This area has a vibrant culture, rich history and heritage.
The Nyandeni Council is on a mission to realise their vision of being “a municipality that drives sustainable socio-economic development through efficient and innovative delivery of services” by creating an engagement platform for current and prospective investors who have an interest in investing in the region, in order to bring their attention to our local projects that are viable for investment with the intention of enticing them to commit towards improving the investment climate of Nyandeni Municipality.
As a step towards achieving its mission, the council invites delegates to its investor summit in Libode.
Investor Summit
Date: 07 - 08 September 2023
Venue: Dan’s Country Lodge, Libode (along the N2)
Starting time: 09H00
Theme: Exploring Investment Opportunities in Nyandeni.
The council aims to bring together select actors from the public, private and traditional sectors, with current and prospective interest in investing in the region, to commit towards
improving the investment climate of Nyandeni Municipality.
“We also want to showcase and market the investment opportunities available in Nyandeni Municipality by articulating a Nyandeni investment project pipeline,” Nyandeni Municipality mayor Viwe Ndamase said.
“We want to provide companies and investors currently operating in the region an opportunity to share best practices, learn from peers, gain a broader understanding of the changing economic environment as it pertains to private sector development, and finally provide a unique platform for companies and the municipality to identify challenges and commonalities and propose solutions with the goal of maximizing their impacts through collective action efforts,” Ndamase said.
Ndamase said the council aimed to offer prospective investors with interest in the region a platform to better understand the prioritization of the municipality’s investment needs and explore concrete investment opportunities that are available to meet those needs.
Furthermore, the council wants to create fertile ground for the implementation of the municipality’s Long-term Development Plan - Vision 2030 and Integrated Development Plan- by providing a platform for private sector actors and policy makers at national, provincial and local levels to meet and exchange knowledge, and articulate commitments to improve the investment climate in the municipality.
The summit is intended to unlock development of the area by enabling implementation of the local catalytic projects and to improve the local investment climate by facilitating the removal of constraints to doing business and investment in the municipality, thus creating a conducive environment for economic growth and job creation.
“We want to attract new investments while expanding existing ones by unveiling investment partnerships through presentation of packaged projects for investment.
We also want to build institutional capacity, facilitate investment promotion in the municipality, mobilise and establish an investment promotion and facilitation eco-system that will lead to mutually beneficial Economic Development Partnerships for our municipality,” Ndamase said.
The council has selected diverse priority sectors that have a potential to create economic spin-offs, boost local economic activity and attract investment, thus improving livelihoods. These include oceans economy, agriculture, tourism, small scale manufacturing, property development and investment-enabling infrastructure.
1. Oceans Economy:
As part of its national development plan and Operation Pakisa Oceans Economy, Nyandeni Municipality is responsive in that it boasts a 20km coastline with six beaches that are potential investment destinations for tourism and the ocean’s economy.
Mdumbi Beach in Ngqeleni is known for having some of the best surfing waves in the country. The municipality can contribute to unlocking the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans.
2. Agriculture:
Nyandeni Municipality has the potential to grow the value of production by the agriculture and forestry sector. There is good rainfall (700 mm/year) which is sufficient for rain-fed arable farming. The area has four main perennial rivers, warm temperatures, fairly good soils and is frost-free. There is approximately 40,000ha of arable land that is suitable for dryland and irrigation production
of crops, fruit, cannabis and grains. Large areas of Nyandeni also have moderate to good potential for forestry. There is already 7000ha of indigenous forest and 3000ha of plantation forest making the area suitable.
There is also 160,000ha of communal grazing land and large existing herds of cattle, sheep and goats. There is potential for growth based on more intensive systems, managed pastures and feedlots.
Investment opportunities exist in the cultivation of crops, cannabis, fruit and grains, agro-processing including animal feed milling, livestock production and forestry.
Nyandeni is well-located for access to the large Mthatha, Eastern Cape and beyond food markets and presents future business opportunities associated with the Wild Coast SEZ and air cargo facilities at Mthatha airport, located only 40km away.
3. Tourism:
Nyandeni Municipality has approximately 20km of coastline along the world-renowned Wild Coast. This stretch of coastline is largely unspoilt and pristine. There are six beaches, including Mdumbi Beach in Ngqeleni, a favourite destination for surfers. The area also boasts a rich culture and heritage, environmentally protected areas, hiking trails and great fishing spots. It is an eco-adventure- cultural and heritage tourism destination and falls within the planned Wild Coast Meander Tourism Route.
Investment opportunities exist in the hospitality sector, film location sector, eco, adventure and teambuilding activities, arts and crafts and cultural and heritage sectors.
Nyandeni Municipality is known for its natural attractions which include Hluleka Nature Reserve and the coastline. There are other natural attractions which could be developed as tourist attractions. These include Ntlangano and Mthatha Mouth.
The popular tourist areas in Nyandeni are also not promulgated as towns and lack developable land. There is also a lack of services associated with tourist nodes such as post offices, police stations, medical facilities etc. The area’s coastline has a comparative advantage through its natural beauty that is yet to be developed into a competitive advantage for tourism.
Tourism has been prioritised as a major economic development opportunity and its success is dependent on local community initiatives as well as the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. Having infrastructure that supports a high-quality tourist experience in the entire tourism value chain is one of the municipality’s key priorities.
4. Small scale manufacturing:
Looking at the potential investment opportunities in small scale manufacturing, the municipality has implemented bee farming projects - Phila Zibungu Bee Keeping and Sizanenguqu Primary Cooperative. These projects focus on bee farming and the production of bottled honey. The product is currently consumed by local markets. Both projects require packaging equipment in order to access formal markets. Investment, equity or managing partner is sought for this project. It requires R15m for both project sites for packaging equipment, marketing and compliance with all legal regulatory frameworks.
The municipality is planning to build a 300
square meter artisan workshop to accommodate local artisans from Libode and Ngqeleni. This project requires R2,5m for design and R15m for infrastructure development. The envisaged economic impact includes job creation.
5. Property Development:
The municipality has made available a piece of land - the interchange precinct for township establishment – commercial and light industrial sites. The affected land parcels are ERF 90 and 251 in Libode. This land is available on a long-term lease of 50 years with an option to renew. National Treasury has already released R2m for planning and design. The land has existing basic infrastructure such as water, access roads, sanitation and electricity. This project requires an investment of R45m and the municipality will waive the building plan submission fee as an incentive.
When it takes off, this project is set to create 100 jobs during the construction phase.
6. Property Development, investment- enabling infrastructure:
The area has a rich culture, potential heritage sites and is suitable for eco-cultural and adventure tourism investment. The department of transport in the Eastern Cape together with Nyandeni Municipality are currently working on the upgrading of the DR08301 Road.
To date, the Office of The Premier has provided R18m funding for designs. Upgrading a total of 90km will require R1bn, to cover the four phases of the project. More jobs will be created once the project gets underway.
To further contribute to creating a conducive space for investment, the municipality has set aside R15m from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant and an equitable share for the construction of a 5km non-motorised pathways and upgrade storm water drainage system to provide storm water management system that resists seasonal flooding in Libode town. Another R15m is still needed for this project and it is expected to create 20 jobs during construction.
The municipality is also planning to have ICT development for the rural areas, creative arts, media, tourism and nature conservation. Nyandeni and Eskom will be responsible for access roads and electricity respectively.
An investment of R60m is needed to establish the ICT and performing arts centres. One hundred jobs will be created when this project takes off.
- All interested investors are urged to RSVP to Coceka Manina 076-512-2214/ maninac@nyandenilm.gov.za
Email: maninac@nyandenilm.gov.za