#Western Cape: Economic Development Agency

[Mo Rush]

Plans for growth gather pace
Shaun Benton

The much-anticipated new Economic Development Agency for the Western Cape – expected to be launched in April next year – is unlikely to be a “command and control” super-agency.


Rather, it will likely be a “lead agency” that will focus on leadership and coordination of industrial and overall economic policy in the province, says André Boraine, chief executive of Cape Town Partnership and the point man on the new project.


The Cape Town Partnership is a cross-sector partnership that was started in 1999 to manage and develop Cape Town’s city centre. It combines and facilitates communication between private sector interests in Cape Town and local and provincial government ambitions.
Boraine has been tasked with presenting to the provincial cabinet a blueprint for the new agency, currently using the working title of the Economic Development Agency (EDA).


He is due to present the report to the province’s executive towards the end of next month, after being approached on the issue near the end of last year, with the project given impetus by finance MEC Alan Winde when unveiling the budget in March.


At the time, Winde said there was an 80% chance that a new economic development agency was already a fait accompli.
But Boraine said there was now no certainty that the EDA would become a new super-agency for economic development in the province, absorbing all the other existing agencies, as was widely expected.
Some of the agencies Capetonians thought would all be absorbed into the EDA included Wesgro, the Western Cape’s investment and trade promotion agency, as well as tourism promoter Cape Town Routes Unlimited and the 17-odd special purpose vehicles catering to specific Cape industries from yacht building to film and craft and design.
“The question is not so much about amalgamation but how to coordinate industrial policy,” said Boraine.
He has been consulting since January with a range of parties across the province, from business players in the Worcester business district, to the industrial development zone in Saldanha, to Wesgro.
In short, “all bodies that will need to relate to the EDA” fall within the consulting radar, said Boraine, including national government departments such as the DTI, national Treasury and the National Planning Commission, given that the Cape Town metro alone contributes 13% to the national economy.
Today he will meet all municipal managers in the province to discuss the EDA and in a month’s time he will be meeting with all the province’s mayors.
Changes in the economy have also shaped the strategy, Boraine says: manufacturing now accounts for only 16% of the regional economy, while services – corporate, financial and other – have shot up to a 72% share.


These changes have led to a need to revise industrial policy.
Boraine said his recommendation will be that the EDA becomes more about strategy and leadership and coordination, as well as playing a role in trade and investment promotion.
“Half the battle is getting people singing from the same hymn sheet,” he said yesterday.


“Everything does not have to be in one big agency,” he says.
The focus now is on a small, specialist agency that is “industry-led and market-facing”, and that coordinates its actions.
Another key element that will form the centre of the new EDA will be market and economic intelligence, says Boraine, all with the aim of improving the province’s rate of economic growth and to have an economy that is more inclusive.

[Mo Rush]

Western Cape regional economic development – how are we doing?

19 June 11 0 Comments
The Western Cape Provincial Government (WCPG) is currently considering the establishment of an Economic Development Agency (EDA) in an attempt to increase the rate of economic growth, deepen levels of economic development and broaden economic participation in the region. The WCPG has commissioned the Cape Town Partnership to engage with economic stakeholders to:

1. Assess the state of regional economic strategy
2. Assess the state of the system of economic delivery
3. Design and submit an EDA proposition, for consideration by Provincial Cabinet by end June 2011

This is the first in a series on the proposed new regional Economic Development Agency, and focuses on reasons for sub-optimal economic performance in the Western Cape region. Feedback welcome.

There is general concensus, that, as a region, we are:

• not achieving our full growth potential, despite our assets and opportunities

• not reducing poverty and inequality sufficiently or quickly enough

Information from draft City of Cape Town Economic Development Strategy 2010

Information from Provincial Economic Review & Outlook (PERO) 2010

Many barriers, some of them self-created, still prevent us from being a more competitive region – while the post-recession global economy has become even more competitive. In addition, as a region we have a relatively weak business brand, partially because of a traditional promotional focus on leisure tourism and ‘quality of life’ assets (where Cape Town and its region is sometimes regarded as an antidote to business and development), and partially because of the gaps in our business and investment climate and economic delivery system.
Information from Brand Cape Town process

From the wide range of studies and assessments, as well as stakeholder consultations, and despite the existence of many centres of excellence and a huge amount of effort, we have identified a range of reasons why the Western Cape and Cape Town are not performing optimally in economic development:

• Lack of leadership on economic issues – economic development is not taken seriously, especially when compared to delivery of household and social services and environmental protection and growth management efforts
• No common economic development agenda. In fact, persistent polarisation of views and approaches (i.e. pro-growth vs. pro poor; urban vs. rural; town vs. township; environment vs. development; big business vs. small business; formal vs. informal business, etc.)
• Overemphasis on ad hoc flagship projects and events, rather than building a consistent reputation as an economic location with a well-organised business, investment and labour market system, including good economic infrastructure, an appropriate skills base and in-time decision-making
• Economic development has, in practice, not been the top priority of provincial and local government, and budget allocations for economic development are generally below those of other metropolitan and provincial governments
• Non-integration of a combined growth, development and inclusion agenda, with limited focus on building the conditions for economic growth and only small-scale and mostly ineffectual efforts to enhance economic inclusion
• Poor coordination between municipalities, Provincial Government and entities and agencies on economic issues
• Length of time for decision-making by public bodies, inconsistent policies and a lack of certainty, which has undermined business confidence
• Over-emphasis on supply-side measures that are not backed by sufficient economic and market intelligence on demand trends
• Culture of disaggregation of effort – lots of ‘churn’ in areas such as skills and enterprise development but little ‘traction’
• Regional business associations are not particularly strong or strategic or united, and collectively represent less than 50% of all businesses
• Weak municipal development strategies; persistence of political and technocratic ‘wish-lists’ and parallel policy processes instead of evidence-led vision and strategy
• No single organisation looking after the overall regional business and investment climate
• Many (if not most) important economic ‘levers’ are at national level, but there is insufficient ability to successfully influence national economic policy and decision-making processes and to leverage national resources
• Preoccupation with ‘global’ and ‘world class’ rather than growing local firms and domestic market share
• Over-reliance on ‘quality of life’ as a differentiating territorial asset
• Overemphasis on promoting leisure tourism in particular and destination marketing in general rather than on promoting the region as an economic location, leading to dilution of business brand and underfunding of trade and investment promotion
• Lack of integration between sector support organisations and programmes and trade and investment promotion
• Complicated and bureaucratic reporting requirements for agencies and entities receiving public funds
• Duplication of effort (and sometimes competition) between public sector departments and agencies they fund

[annman]

Sit on the EDA consultative committee with Andrew. Will keep you posted if there are any exciting updates. The Breede Valley Partnership is now finally being formalised and should be formed at the Breede Valley Municipal council meeting in July. The EDA is currently still in it's formative phases and prioritising our direction and focus.

Worcester is to become the anchor of one of the EDA's four economic growth regions for the Western Cape: Cape Town and environs; West Coast; Cape Interior and Karoo; South Coast and Garden Route.

[Mo Rush]

Ah. We should still meet at some point.

[annman]

Definitely. Just been so damn busy recently. Have had to push the economic growth of the region and the PPP in the valley very aggressively. Also been enacting the transformation of the NGO's in the valley. Can't have a PPP with a poor stakeholder demographic profile.

Will mail you soon. We definitely need to exchange ideas. I so badly wanted to attend some of your events, but have been tied down.

Going to invite Andrew Boraine, Guy Lundy, Eddie Scott, Tasso Evangelinos, Patricia de Lille, Calvyn Gilfellan and others to the Partnership launch, which should hopefully occur in August. Will make sure you get one!!!

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by annman

Definitely. Just been so damn busy recently. Have had to push the economic growth of the region and the PPP in the valley very aggressively. Also been enacting the transformation of the NGO's in the valley. Can't have a PPP with a poor stakeholder demographic profile.

Will mail you soon. We definitely need to exchange ideas. I so badly wanted to attend some of your events, but have been tied down.

Going to invite Andrew Boraine, Guy Lundy, Eddie Scott, Tasso Evangelinos, Patricia de Lille, Calvyn Gilfellan and others to the Partnership launch, which should hopefully occur in August. Will make sure you get one!!!

No worries, just got back from China, and still trying to find my bearings!

Super, look forward to the launch. I will definitely clear my calendar and bring "influentials" if you wish haha Don't forget Mariette and CT Tourism. Be nice

I'm actually just re-focussing my goals at the moment to get a job working for the proposed EDA, which as my sources tell me, is post consultation, def going ahead.

Andrew was kind enough to meet me to talk about early stages of the EDA. Alan Winde is also very approachable.

[Mo Rush]

See news this week on this. Presentations to City and Province yesterday at a joint meeting.

Annman, I popped in your Partnership plans during my chat with Andrew this morning.

[annman]

You legend. Developments seem to be afoot. Pressure is building in province... word from the inside, "I've never heard the Breede River Valley discussed this much in the corridors of power, ever." There was a Breede Valley Municipality MayCo decision to add the partnership on the next council meeting agenda; keep you posted.

Any little bit of pressure and keeping the light on this issue helps.

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by annman

You legend. Developments seem to be afoot. Pressure is building in province... word from the inside, "I've never heard the Breede River Valley discussed this much in the corridors of power, ever." There was a Breede Valley Municipality MayCo decision to add the partnership on the next council meeting agenda; keep you posted.

Any little bit of pressure and keeping the light on this issue helps.

Had a chat with Alan Winde, MEC for Economic Development, before the Gala Dinner last night but unfortunately it was mainly about the Joule.

But the niche areas you presented for Worcester at our meeting will be key as part of the EDA.

WC is actually fine with the Joule being produced in East London, for the best price, with government support, in a zone where they are good at making cars.

The Joule base will remain Cape Town.

[Mo Rush]

EDA will be put before Council in August

[Mo Rush]

Cape Town's plan for fostering economic growth - Patricia de Lille

Patricia de Lille
31 July 2011

Mayor says city to help form Economic Development Agency

City's new path for encouraging economic growth
This week in council, I announced my intention to bring the formation of an Economic Development Agency (EDA) to the chamber for debate soon. In due course, councillors will have an opportunity to discuss the important issues around its establishment and how, if it is approved, we can use it to leverage maximum economic effect for the city.
To get to this point, there has been a lot of high-level engagement with a number of different stakeholders, including the provincial government.
When I came into office, I did so with the pledge that this administration would look to create the enabling environment in which investment could grow and jobs could be created.
Unemployment, which entrenches historical poverty, is the biggest challenge facing South Africa, and Cape Town, today.
Local Government, which has a constitutional mandate for economic and social development, must be about realising what the abilities to facilitate economic growth are and using the levers it has at its disposal to help people.
We must have a holistic picture of the issues we face in the long-term dictates of our mandate. If we are so short-sighted as to think that issues of delivery happen in isolation of economic conditions, then we will ultimately not be able to provide to people as we allow ourselves to be overcome by larger socio-economic forces.
If, however, we take the long-view of government, we realise that all factors must be balanced against each other and that to provide services to the best of our ability; we must simultaneously provide an environment of opportunity in which people can provide for themselves.
We should never just accept that people born poor must remain victims of our history or structural inequality.
That is why I am so excited about the EDA. It will take some time to get off the ground fully, but it will be a nimble body of economic facilitation and direction.
And it will have maximum accountability. Based on a model developed in Barcelona, the EDA would work like a company with shareholders accountable for doing a particular job, including maximising economic and investment potential, marketing, coordinating integration between regions and a range of other functions.
The discussions at the moment would see the City as a founding partner which means it will have the authority to see that the City's interests are being served and that we are getting value for our investment.
We must recognise that in an era where city-regions act as the nodal points for competitive economic activity, Cape Town has a central role to play in this part of the country.
It is the nexus area that drives growth, provides skills, and supplies the resources for development within its own boundaries and immediately without.
We need to take advantage of this position and integrate our efforts with surrounding regions, so that we can all maximise our rewards, both for our respective economic developments and for our people who will ultimately benefit.


But if the EDA will help facilitate certain economic strategies, I have also been focused on consolidating the overall governance strategy for this city.


This weekend, my Mayoral Committee and I will be meeting to discuss the new strategic objectives for the city that will define this term in office.
The City has done a great deal over the past 5 years but it is only right that as the new term gets underway, we ensure that we consolidate our efforts to deliver on the mandate given to us by the people of Cape Town.
This weekend, each Mayoral Committee member will be giving a presentation on the strategic direction that they are mapping out for their portfolios.
The other Mayoral Committee members and I will provide input and discussion.
Not only will this allow for a range of perspectives to be incorporated, thus strengthening conclusions, but we will also be able to view the entire picture of delivery.
That picture begins with the recognition that portfolios do not work in isolation of one another. Each of their functions impacts on the other, though recognisably sometimes more directly in certain cases than others.
To provide an example: to make the city even safer, one of the pillars of this government, we cannot just consider security issues alone.
Rather, we have to place security issues in a broader social context and look at, for instance, what work social development can do to help off-set the social effects of crime.


I am looking forward to healthy, robust and constructive engagement. This is the team that drives delivery for our citizens and it is important that we consolidate our efforts to ensure that we are doing all that we can to serve.


I am also pleased to say that we are at an advanced stage of planning for me to begin my ‘At The Coalface,' campaign, where I will be going out to meet City employees at the places where they work and deliver services.
It is too easily forgotten that every day, without fanfare, thousands of City employees make sure that Cape Town has electricity, clean water, the refuse collected, waste water treated and sick people attended to.
Government shouldn't only be about sitting in council and making decisions. It should also be about dealing directly with issues of service delivery and leading from the front. In so doing, I will be able to ensure that we are meeting the expectations of the people of Cape Town.
This article by Patricia de Lille first appeared in Cape Town This Week, the mayor's weekly online newsletter.
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[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by Mo Rush

EDA will be put before Council in August

Economic Development Agency on Track to Deliver Economic Leadership and Strategy in the Western Cape
2 August 2011
SOURCE: Department of Economic Development and Tourism (Provincial Government of the Western Cape)
Media Statement by Alan Winde, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and TourismToday (Tuesday, 2 August 2011), Andrew Boraine of the Cape Town Partnership presented the final proposal for the Economic Development Agency (EDA) to a joint meeting of the Western Cape Cabinet and City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee.
We are confident that the suggested strategy and structure for the EDA, which was developed following extensive research into EDAs around the world and in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, will deliver the new brand of economic leadership required to constitute a shared economic growth, development and inclusion vision and strategy for the Western Cape.
To date, the absence of a common economic agenda and strategy, and a disjointed regional economic delivery system, has resulted in the following:

• As a region, we are not achieving our full growth potential, particularly in relation to our assets and opportunities.
• Jobless growth: We are not reducing poverty and inequality sufficiently or quickly enough - breaking the cycle of poverty means expanding incomes and jobs, not just the provision of more services to more people.
• Many barriers remain to making us a more competitive region - while the post-recession global economy has become even more competitive.
• We have a relatively weak regional business brand, partially because of a traditional focus on leisure tourism and "quality of life" assets (where Cape Town and the region are sometimes associated as an antidote to business and development), and partially because of the gaps in our business and investment climate and economic delivery system.

To address these failures and create sustainable growth and jobs, it is clear that we need to bring all major economic role players in the province together on the basis of a common agenda.
The proposed EDA will be the body responsible for driving this project. It is proposed that it will have the following roles and functions:

• Market and economic intelligence.
• Leadership and agenda-setting.
• Formation of an economic strategy.
• Monitoring and assessment.

In mid-August, the EDA proposal will be formally tabled before the Provincial Cabinet and City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee.
Should it be approved, the implementation of the EDA will commence immediately with the announcement of an interim steering committee, whose task will be to bring key players together to forge a shared vision, common economic agenda and new economic strategy for the province. It is envisaged that the EDA will begin operating officially at the start of the next provincial financial year on 1 April 2012.
As the political heads for economic growth and job creation, Councillor Belinda Walker and I are encouraged that we have reached this point in the process. The proposed EDA will be the vehicle that will deliver the visionary leadership we need to grow the economy and jobs and ensure that all the citizens of the Western Cape have access to and are included in the economy.
Media Enquiries:
Tammy Evans
Spokesperson for Minister Alan Winde
Tel: 021 483 4327
Cell: 082 378 2235
Fax: 021 483 3892

*Follow Minister Winde at: www.twitter.com/alanwinde