The City of Cape Town has opened the new Invest Cape Town Centre, a multi-use hub for economic activity, showcasing investor support initiatives, Cape-made products, and projects spotlighting Cape Town as a leading African business city. The centre was opened at City Hall this week by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Alderman James Vos, the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.
‘We are pleased to open this hub as part of our commitment to bringing more job-creating investment to Cape Town. This is a place where investors can immerse themselves in all things Cape Town, and we look forward to many fruitful economic engagements in this space. We are also glad to support local by showcasing proudly Cape Town product ranges here, and we invite businesses to take advantage of this opportunity,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Alderman Vos said the centre will be activated for networking events and engagements with investors, high-level delegations and stakeholders. The idea was first conceptualised during a City trade mission to Dubai, Cape Town’s sister city.
‘During that visit, I took a tour of Dubai’s Economic Development Centre, which displayed locally produced goods and offered support to regional manufacturers. We brought that concept back and tailored it for Cape Town. The opening of this Invest Cape Town Centre is the City yet again putting our backing for local businesses into action. To our knowledge, this is a first for South Africa – no other municipality in South Africa has a dedicated space where their economic story gets told in such a tangible way,’ said Alderman Vos.
The hub’s display area for Cape-made products will feature items on a rotational basis.
‘We plan to showcase a range of Capetonian businesses at the Centre. There is no cost to getting products featured, as the goal is to spotlight Cape Town’s creators,’ said Alderman Vos
‘This dedicated space complements the City’s broader initiatives for businesses, from skills development to productivity improvements. The Economic Growth team has developed various mechanisms of support for businesses of different sizes or in particular industries primed for growth.
‘For example, there is our Business Hub for small businesses and entrepreneurs, the Place Marketing and Tourism Unit, the Investment Facilitation Unit and our industry-specific Special Purpose Vehicles. Under our Business Retention and Expansion programme, we assist companies in planning operations and expedite development. The Productivity Efficiency Programme helps distressed SMMEs improve financially. We also support manufacturers through the Cape Trade Portal, connecting exporters to buyers and resources. It has grown exponentially in registered users and products since starting in 2022,’ said Alderman Vos.
Cape Town-based businesses interested in getting their products displayed at the Invest Cape Town Centre can contact the Invest Cape Town team via info@investcapetown.com
