SPECIAL FEATURE
Boosting economic growth Sector-specific industrial zones are set to transform Limpopo’s economy.
Mineral beneficiation is a vital part of Limpopo’s economy. Photo: Impala Platinum.
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n July 2016 the national cabinet approved the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Located in the far north of Limpopo in the Vhembe region, Musina-Makhado is strategically located near the border of Zimbabwe and on the Great North Road which links South Africa to the broader Southern African region. The location of the Musina-Makhado SEZ, with links to Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique, promotes the Trans-Limpopo Spatial Development Initiative. Logistics will be one of the key focus areas of the SEZ. Soon after the announcement of the designation of the SEZ, the National Department of Trade and Industry (dti) said that a consortium of Chinese investors, Sino, has agreed to put R40billion into the Musina-Makhado SEZ where they will operate the mineral beneficiation operations.
LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2019/20
The initiative has already attracted investors in the form of the Eco-Industrial Solutions (EIS), the private sector investor behind the Limpopo EcoIndustrial Park (LEIP). LEIP aims to be an integrated industrial development comprising five major industrial components that sets new standards in sustainability. Set on 6 400ha of land, the LEIP will include a nature reserve, two residential estates and schools. The Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA) is working with EIS to establish a petrochemical cluster within the Musina-Makhado SEZ. LEDA is the key driver of the provincial government’s drive to boost the economy through investment. LEDA is an agency of the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET). LEDA’s brief
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