REGIONAL FOCUS BY FIONA WAKELIN
Limpopo
Powering ahead
L
impopo is rich in agricultural and mining resources and is linked to the Maputo Development Corridor through the Phalaborwa Spatial Development Initiative, a network of road and rail corridors connecting to the major seaports which will open up Limpopo and surrounding regions for trade and investment. This is complimented by the presence of airports in major centres of the province including Ellisras, Makhado, Musina, Phalaborwa, Mokopane, Thabazimbi, Tzaneen, Thohoyandou and Bela-Bela as well as the Gateway International airport in Polokwane. As a result of financial incentives for investors from national government,
the province has established TIL (Trade Investment Limpopo) which offers a wide range of services to entrepreneurs and investors interested in setting up businesses - including acquisitions, green field investments, joint ventures with local partners, cross holdings of equity between an overseas and local partner or collaborative agreements in the field such as research and development, transfer of technology or sales and distribution.www.limpopo.gov.za HYDROGEN VALLEY “South Africa currently produces 2% of the global demand for hydrogen, mostly made from
natural gas. Given the projected global demand for green hydrogen, South Africa has the opportunity to convert its current global supply to green hydrogen and the potential to increase the country’s share of the green hydrogen market. As a country, South Africa has good trading relations with the countries that are looking to import green hydrogen. These include the European Union broadly and Germany in particular, Japan, South Korea and China. “According to the recently launched South African Hydrogen Valley Feasibility Study Report, the average cost of green hydrogen will be around USD 4 (EUR 3.5) per kg by 2030 along the Platinum Valley corridor, representing a green premium of USD2-2.5 per kg above grey hydrogen, produced from natural gas.”- Hon. Minister Blade Nzimande The Platinum Valley Corridor starts from Anglo American Platinum’s Mogalakwena Mine in Limpopo, through Pretoria and Johannesburg down to Durban, passing through the N1 and N3 and It is expected that by implementing the catalytic
34 | Public Sector Leaders | June 2022
