Come invest in Cape Town, Mayor Hill-Lewis tells US businesses

18 January 2024

The US is a key economic partner to the City of Cape Town, and is the biggest source of foreign direct investment into the city economy by some distance. 

The list of large international companies invested in Cape Town continues to grow and includes the likes of Microsoft, Roche, Johnson & Johnson, DHL, Unilever, KPMG, Burger King, IBM, Kimberley Clark, and the latest addition, retail giant Amazon.

‘More and more global companies are investing in Cape Town, bringing new jobs to our city. Given the huge contribution the US makes to job-creating foreign direct investment in Cape Town, I am glad to be in the USA to share more about our city’s bright future, and to invite even more US businesses to come and invest in Cape Town.

‘We want to get more Capetonians into work, and a big part of this is drumming up international investor confidence in our city. 

‘There is definitely cause for optimism in Cape Town’s future, with a record infrastructure investment pipeline, more new jobs created in the past year than all other SA cities combined, advanced plans for water and energy security, and tourism at an all-time high alongside other growing sectors,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis at the US Chamber of Commerce.

The Mayor’s other engagements in Washington DC have included an address at the Woodrow Wilson Centre focusing on the challenges of rapid urbanisation in Africa, and the Corporate Council on Africa, which promoted and facilitates investment for US companies in Africa.

Mayor Hill-Lewis now heads to New York to meet the Business Chamber of International Understanding (BCIU) and Mayor Eric Adams.

In making the investment case for Cape Town, Mayor Hill-Lewis is emphasising:

- Cape Town’s infrastructure investment will dwarf other South African cities in the coming years, with a special focus on water and sanitation upgrades

- The city is increasingly at the heart of national economic growth, creating more jobs than all other cities combined in the last year, with many semigrating their lives and businesses to Cape Town 

- Flourishing sectors include Business Process Outsourcing, ICT, Film, Agri-Business, and Tourism

- Tourist visitors are at record levels, with 317 000 overseas visitors in December and 2,9 million visitors during 2023 driving new tourism jobs in the city economy

- The metro has developed a professional civil service, underpinned by accountability, transparency, and measurable performance targets

- The city is leading on energy security, and is set to be the first to end load-shedding and Eskom reliance

- A newly launched Ease of Doing Business Index seeks to cut red tape and make it even easier to invest

- Cape Town boasts unrivalled natural beauty and lifestyle options, from its famous mountain, coastline, beaches and winelands, to some of the best restaurants in the world.

Mayor Hill-Lewis is further outlining how the City is working towards key economic reforms, including taking operational control of the passenger rail service, the formal devolution of more policing powers, and private sector involvement in the Port of Cape Town.

Before returning to Cape Town next week, Mayor Hill-Lewis will head to London for engagements including with Mayor Sadiq Khan and the SA Chamber of Commerce UK. 

On Tuesday, 23 January, the Mayor will deliver an address at the London School of Economics, titled “City of hope – lessons from Cape Town for the future of South Africa and African cities”.

Issued by Media Office, City of Cape Town, 18 January 2024