Programme Director, Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry, Mr Lionel October;
Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor, Cllr Mondli Gungubele;
Economic Development MMC, Cllr Thumbu Mahlangu;
Organisers of the Manufacturing Indaba;
Representatives of Business;
Delegates;
Members of the media;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you very much for the opportunity to come and deliver closing remarks at the end of the Manufacturing Indaba an important event in the annual calendar of our province and this City of Peace.

It is no coincidence that you are hosting it here in Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis, the Eastern Development Corridor of the Gauteng City Region. Ekurhuleni has been and remains a manufacturing hub and workshop of the Sub-Saharan Africa.

Given that we have come to the end of this important forum for engagement, I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate all of you who have been part of this milestone conference.

In particular, I must commend all speakers for providing insightful and far-sighted presentations that focused on the future of the manufacturing industry locally and globally. Having listened to some of the thought-provoking presentations earlier, I am certain that you have had productive engagements – robust and yet forward looking.

For us in the Provincial Government and the entire City Region, the Manufacturing Indaba represents a significant step forward in giving effect to our Programme for Radical Transformation, Modernisation and Re-Industrialisation (hereinafter referred to as the TMR) which is the priority focus of the fifth administration in Gauteng.

Our vision is to turn Gauteng into a globally competitive, seamlessly integrated, socially cohesive and economically inclusive  City Region; a leading economy in Africa's new industrial revolution underpinned by smart, innovation-driven, knowledge based economy and industries of the future; and a responsive and clean government and an active citizenry.

Manufacturing is the backbone of any modern economy and any future economy. You know very well that manufacturing sector has been on a progressive decline in the past two and half decades from 25% to 19% of our provincial economy. This is certainly not good for our economy; it is also not good for jobs.

Our competitive edge has also taken a major knock in part because we have not been able to keep with developments in economies such as China, whilst the domestic demand has also been suffocated.

We are quite simple in our expectations from the outcomes of the Indaba – yet we are conscious of the challenges that all of us are facing. We are also cognisant of the role we have carved for ourselves as government with regard to what must be done in order to resuscitate manufacturing in Gauteng, South Africa and indeed in the continent.

Accordingly, we remain committed to ensuring that among the critical tasks we must engage with all stakeholders on, and this is a headache that plagues investors in many parts of the developing world: the cost of doing business.

We want to join hands with Ekurhuleni and the Department of Trade and Industry to sustain focused interventions through the work done by the Manufacturing Indaba to position our country and province as a globally competitive manufacturing hub of the future.

My colleagues and I, the Mayors, have the honour to preside over our country's biggest economy and the industrial hub of Africa. As you are aware, Gauteng contributes 36% to SA's economy and 10% to Africa's economy.

The Gauteng City Region vision is anchored on our ten pillars that focus on the economy, space, infrastructure and quality of governance:

    We must achieve Radical Economic Transformation because it is here that we must fundamentally alter the structure of the economy in such a way that we overcome barriers to entry for established and prospective entrepreneurs, and SMME’s. It is through this transformation that we will achieve greater redistribution of wealth and bring significant change in the value chain that drives the various sectors and industries of the economy. This includes a specific policy focus on the revitalization of township-based manufacturing enterprises and greater emphasis on local production.
    Decisive Spatial Transformation to create new economic nodes and post-apartheid cities where people live closer to where they work. We have adopted a re-industrial plan based on five - eastern, northern, western, southern and central - development corridors that have specialisation of sectors and industries in line with each area's comparative advantage. Invest in infrastructure will be the key driver of each corridor's development - energy, public transport, broadband, etc.
    The State through a transformed governance dispensation must remain a leader in matters relating to the provision of quality services to the citizenry. It must be people driven in its agenda so that it is one that is developmental, enjoys popular support and the state itself enjoys legitimacy and the trust of the people. The state must therefore lead in exploiting the full potential that comes with the innovative use of such tools as technology, especially among the youth, in the delivery of public services. Tackle corruption and enhance capability for rapid response.
    We are also alive to the challenges that come with running a modern economy. Thus for us Modernised Economy finds expression in the targeted interventions we are making by among others seeking to understand the structure, ownership patterns and value chains that make up the economy of the province. At the same time we are also taking serious steps to ensure that we drive such modernisation through our approach to development by exploiting and enhancing the comparative advantages of each of our corridors of development.
    We have made a case for the reorientation of the spatial development perspective. The modernisation of our human settlements and urban development means that we must also raise the bar in terms of the norms and standards when planning and developing new settlements. It means that we must be responsive and deal decisively with such matters as the Environment Impact Assessments and related authorisations, which we are now able to process in three months, down from 24 moths.
    We are also focused on building modern public transport and other infrastructure. The cities of Joburg and Tshwane have completed major infrastructure projects in a form of Gautrain and Bus Rapid Transit systems. The city of Ekurhuleni will roll out phase one next year. From then on all of them are looking to expand their BRT’s so that we complete integration and connectedness through public transport within the city region. On 16-17 July, we will hold an Infrastructure Investment Conference through which we want to further explore what are the major infrastructure projects we can collectively explore and invest in over the next five to fifteen years.

Two pillars of our strategy focus on re-industrialising Gauteng and making sure that Gauteng takes a lead in Africa's industrialisation efforts. Our focus on Africa is informed both by our Pan-Africanism as well as by the reality that South Africa's future economic prospects lie in Africa's collective prosperity. All data points to the fact that Africa has once more become the centre of economic gravity for the world in the next fifty years - Europe, Asia and North America understands the potential of Africa more than African industrialists do.

Seeing ourselves as part of Africa is not a matter of political correctness, it is a question of SA's own economic survival and success as the most industrialised economy. Africa has more than one billion inhabitants who are consumers, entrepreneurs and younger people.

Already, 60% of our exports are destined to Africa, a very different picture from the 13% it was a decade ago. Without Africa, we will not survive and Africa's economic prospects, including manufacturing potential is now.

The Deputy Governor of the Nigerian Central Bank cites two articles carried by the influential publication: The Economist. One appeared in the year 2000, provocatively titled: “The Hopeless continent”.

Another article in the same magazine appeared a decade later with a headline: “The Hopeful Continent: Africa Rising”. The lead article of a decade later in the Economist magazine to which have referred the following perspective was carried:

“The shops are stacked six feet high with goods, the streets outside are jammed with customers and sales people are sweating profusely under the onslaught. But this is not the high street during the Christmas shopping season in the rich world. It is the Onitsha market in Southern Nigeria, every day of the year. Many call it the world’s biggest. Up to 3 million people go there daily to buy rice and soap, computers and construction equipment. It is a hub for traders from the Gulf of Guinea, a region blighted by corruption, piracy, poverty and disease but also home to millions of highly motivated entrepreneurs and increasingly prosperous consumers’’

It is this prism we believe lays Africa’s claim firmly in the twenty first century. Gauteng is positioning itself strategically to take full advantage of opportunities presented by Africa's rising prospects. We must be the leading economy in Africa's new industrial revolution.

The Africa Rising prism is one through which we do not only view ourselves, but the entire continent. Given the position of the Gauteng economy we firmly believe that it is strategically positioned to help us lead Africa’s new Industrial Revolution.

The Manufacturing Indaba is a critical platform to collaborate and plot the future together so that we ride the Africa Rising wave!

We look forward to getting the detailed outcomes of this Indaba so that we work together to move Ekurhuleni and the entire Gauteng City Region forward.

Please remember, from 2016 the Gauteng Provincial Government will be one of the partners of the Manufacturing Indaba.

Thank you and God Bless Africa!