The newsletter’s centerpiece is the NAACAM Show 2023, hosted in Tshwane for the first time, which secured R4.8 billion in investment pledges from 16 exhibitors across the automotive component manufacturing sector. The event drew over 570 delegates and 130 exhibiting brands, and Alderman Hannes Coetzee highlighted the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) as a major growth driver, having already created over 7,887 jobs and attracted more than R15 billion in investment. A related roundtable also brought together industry bodies, OEMs, and government stakeholders to plan Gauteng’s positioning in the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) space.
Beyond the auto sector, TEDA ran several other initiatives in 2023: an SMME Symposium with the SAEEC to help small businesses tap into supplier development programmes, and the second annual Tshwane Women in Business Awards, which recognised female entrepreneurs across nine categories (from Primary Agriculture to Informal Sector). The Acting CEO, Jobe Mkhonto, reflected on a challenging year shaped by energy and logistics constraints, while noting the agency’s R4.746 billion in landed investments and R12.7 billion in pipeline projects for the 2022/23 financial year.
The issue closes with a farewell to outgoing staff member Simon Makgatho and a page of “fast facts” promoting Tshwane as an investment and tourism destination — covering its status as South Africa’s capital, its embassy count (second only to Washington DC), free Wi-Fi coverage, a Big 5 game reserve, and its size as the third-largest city in the world by land mass.