After 20 years, South Africa has achieved much but still has high levels of poverty and inequality. With GDP growth rates of 1.9% in 2013, national government needs to review its role in creating a favourable investment climate. Business’ ‘voice’, however, needs to be clear and consistent – value creation and growth is led by business, with Government creating favourable conditions. Enterprise development and developing symbiotic relationships between corporates and SME’s is part of this and is an area where greater business/Government collaboration is needed. Accelerate Cape Town is actively engaged in dialogue with Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, representative bodies and our corporate members. Read more in the article: Improving the Business Government Relationship.
Cape Town remains a vibrant, innovative community. Ranked by Innovation Cities Program, Innovation Cities Emerging Index 2012-2013 as Africa’s most innovative city, we see excellence in various sectors. With over 1 billion people in Africa, the pharmaceutical industry represents a significant opportunity. This month, we highlight Professor Kelly Chibale who founded H3-D, Africa’s first Drug Discovery and Development Centre which discovered a novel chemical compound which can potentially control and eradicate malaria. This expertise together with the high concentration of biotechnology companies, research institutes and research groups in the Western Cape Positions the Cape as Africa’s Pharma R&D Hub.
We also highlight the Arup & Rockefeller Foundation City Resilience Framework launched in April following our facilitation of the fieldwork in Cape Town in December 2013. We chatted to Darren Franks, MD Middle East and Africa for Eutopia in Leadership Spotlight, and highlight the value of our KPMG Sustainability Forum and the extensive City of Cape Town’s projects that resulted in our recent recognition in the WWF Earth Life City Challenge. As we continue to grow our regional economy and the Cape Town region as a leading African city, I encourage you to share your thoughts, so that we can continue developing relationships with regional and national government and have the required economic growth in the next 5 years.
