Manufacturing general

Aspen is making vaccines for Africa.

The Aspen Pharmacare facility in Gqeberha will make hundreds of millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for South Africa and Africa.

A consortium of development finance organisations, including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, made €600-million in financing available to the South African company in the course of 2021 to assist it in ramping up production of the vaccines. By 2022, the facility should be making about 500-million doses annually. Aspen’s earlier investment of R3.3-billion to scale up production for vaccines for Africa created 1 775 jobs, of which 52% went to women.

The provincial government aims for more diversification in manufacturing and is targeting sectors where the province already has a competitive advantage (such as wool and mohair), are labour intensive, will have a broad impact and have low barriers for SMME entry.

A fibre-processing plant to spin wool and mohair fibre into yarn is planned, as is a textile mill to focus on cotton, poly-cotton and acrylic fabric. The latter is planned for the IDZ in East London, which is already home to Da Gama Textiles, whose factory has the capacity to produce 45-million square metres of fabric per annum. Da Gama makes the popular and distinctive shweshwe fabric, using its own unique printing process.

Several cluster development programmes aim to develop specific industries by bringing together expertise and logistical support. A NonAutomotive Manufacturing (NAM) Cluster concentrates on training, supplier development, energy efficiencies and developing new markets. Swedish concern Fagerhult Group has entered the South African market via an acquisition of the factory of Port Elizabeth’s Lighting Innovations, and the two subsidiary companies Arrow Lighting and Beacon Lighting.

Montego Pet Nutrition, Graaff-Reinet’s biggest private employer, has recently installed an impressive array of solar panels on the roof of its facility (pictured). More than 200 staff members work in the Karoo town’s factory.

First National Battery, a Metair Group company, has one factory at Fort Jackson and two factories in East London. Mpact runs two corrugated packaging convertor facilities in the Eastern Cape, at Deal Party in Port Elizabeth and Gately Township, East London. Bodene, a subsidiary of Fresenius Kabi, makes intravenous medicine in Port Elizabeth. East London hosts Johnson & Johnson’s finance, operations and research and development divisions.

The Eastern Cape’s two Special Economic Zones play an important role in attracting investors to the province. Located in East London near of the port and at the deepwater port of Ngqura 20km north of Port Elizabeth, the East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ) and the Coega SEZ provide the infrastructure that will allow the region to expand and diversify its economy. ■

ONLINE RESOURCES

Coega Development Corporation: www.coega.co.za East London Industrial Development Zone: www.elidz.co.za Eastern Cape Development Corporation: www.ecdc.co.za SECTOR INSIGHT Montego Pet Nutrition is Graaff-Reinet’s biggest employer.