The role that South Africa’s Industrial Parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Industrial Zones can play in advancing green industrialisation will come under the spotlight during a webinar co-hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and GreenCape on 22 September 2026 at 14:00 (SAST).
Titled Green Industrialisation in South Africa: The Strategic Role of Industrial Spaces, the webinar will bring together policymakers, industry leaders investors and development partners to examine how industrial spaces can serve as platforms for both industrial decarbonisation and clean-energy manufacturing, supporting a just and inclusive energy transition in South Africa.
The discussion will consider how the deployment of renewable energy, battery storage, energy-efficiency solutions and other low-carbon technologies within industrial spaces can create concentrated and predictable demand.
Importantly, it will examine how this demand could support the local manufacture of clean-energy technologies and components, strengthen domestic value chains, promote industrial diversification and attract investment into green industries.
The webinar takes place as South Africa seeks to capture greater industrial and socioeconomic benefits from its energy transition. The South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM), for example, aims to strengthen local manufacturing capabilities and value chains, support job creation and enhance industrial competitiveness alongside increased renewable-energy deployment.
Government and industry perspectives
Opening remarks will be delivered by Gerhard Fourie, Chief Director: Green Industries at the dtic; Karin Reiss-Haimbala, Programme Manager at UNIDO; and GreenCape CEO Mike Mulcahy. UNIDO Project Coordinator Mchenge Nyoka will moderate the webinar.
The programme will include a presentation by Noma Qase, Director: Renewable Energy Projects at the Department of Electricity and Energy, on SAREM implementation and priorities for advancing green industrialisation.
GreenCape Energy Programme Manager Jack Radmore will examine South Africa’s green manufacturing opportunities, including market potential, competitive advantages and investment prospects, while UNIDO Sustainable Energy Expert Rouba Onaissi will discuss Sustainable Industrialisation Hubs as platforms for green industrialisation.
An interactive panel discussion and Q&A will feature Shaun Moses, Acting Chief Director: Special Economic Zones at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition; Dominic Milazi, Senior Energy Specialist at the World Bank; Philippa Rodseth, Executive Director of the Manufacturing Circle; and Ndivhuho Raphulu, Director of the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA). The discussion will be moderated by Qase.
The webinar forms part of the Flanders-funded Fostering Low-Carbon and Positive Energy Industrial Spaces in South Africa project, which aims to support the low-carbon transformation of South Africa’s industrial sector. The project is implemented by UNIDO in collaboration with GreenCape, NCPC-SA and VITO.
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