Foreign investors show interest in KwaZulu-Natal development

The seventh Cityscape Dubai, attracts international investors, property developers, architects and all professionals involved in the property business.

The complex, which is expected to create about 16,000 permanent jobs, will see the development of 16,556 hectares of land, north of the UThukela River. It comes as the result of an agreement signed between Ndebele and the Ruwaad Group in Dubai earlier this year.

According to the agreement, $2.5 billion has been committed to the project.

Total outputs

The impact on total output in the finance and business services sector is expected to be R11.6 billion, R73 billion and R118.3 billion over the short, medium and long term.

The development is expected to increase total output in the agricultural sector by about R247 million per annum and R390 million per annum in the medium and long terms respectively.

The proposed development will strengthen the North Coast Priority Corridor between Durban and Richards Bay and act as a catalyst for further economic growth and job creation in surrounding areas.

Uniquely African with global appeal

Chief Executive Officer, Hayan Merchant, said at the time he had wanted to develop a uniquely African, world-class destination that has local, regional, national, continental and international appeal.

Ruwaad is a subsidiary of the listed Dubai 9 group, a real estate, hospitality, tourism investment and development company that focuses on creating world class destinations, initially in the Middle East, Australia, Africa and Asia with a strong emphasis on entertainment, hospitality, business and residential and leisure lifestyle.

On Sunday, the delegation held a meeting with Hanif Merchant, Chairman of Ruwaad and Merchant at Ruwaad's offices in Dubai.

Garnering interest

Speaking at the Dubai exhibition, Premier Ndebele said Cityscape had enabled them to have one-on-one interaction with developers from across the globe: “We are trying to convince them to come and invest in KwaZulu-Natal.

“This optimism has attracted the attention of the world and, as a result, the province is working towards one of the largest foreign direct investment projects. The proposed multi-billion rand development, by Ruwaad Investments, will be on the northern side of the uThukela River, in the Macambini area on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.”

He said KwaZulu-Natal needed to attract more foreign direct investment and from the interest shown in the province at Cityscape, they were sure to achieve that.

“Since 2004 the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has been moving aggressively with its strategy to woo foreign investors to the province,” he said.

During the past 18 months alone, the provincial government has injected several billions of rands in infrastructural projects including the Moses Mabhida Stadium, the King Shaka International Airport and the Dube Trade port.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews