SOUTH AFRICA – The Coega Development Corporation (CDC), a public entity wholly owned by the Eastern Cape Provincial Government of South Africa has cut sodo for the construction of the R206 million (US$12.6m) Coega Aquaculture Development Zone (ADZ).

CDC is mandated to develop and operate the 9, 003-hectare Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located at Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa.

The establishment of the aquaculture park is funded by the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs & Tourism (DEDEAT) through the Provincial Stimulus Fund.

According to CDC, it is expected to create over 900 jobs in line with the provincial development strategy and focuses on establishing the Eastern Cape’s (EC) Oceans Economy.

“As government, the most important thing is to save jobs and go beyond saving to creating jobs. This stimulus fund seeks to fund enterprises that seek to save jobs, this is something that we have done and continue to do.”

“With the Oceans Economy Master Plan there is a lot to be tapped and if we focus on that Master Plan we will create jobs, especially with the coastline that we have in the EC,” said MEC for Economic Development and Finance – Mlungisi Mvoko.

So far CDC has signed 4 Letters of Intent (LOI’s) with companies which have shown interest in building two Perlemoen Farms and two Finfish Farms.

The two Perlemoen Farms projects are earmarked to create over 700 jobs and the two Finfish Farms coming in with 200 jobs.

Coega Aquaculture Development Zoneis expected to create over 900 jobs.

According to CDC Project Development Manager, Dr Du Plessis, they are currently working on installation of the needed infrastructure for the development of the farms which will take up to 9 months to get things off the ground.

Built on 400ha of land, ADZ’s first phase will occuppy110ha. The project will also see the construction of a desalination plant.

Meanwhile, CDC has extended its market offering beyond the South African borders into Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR) and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the Coega Africa Programme (CAP).

In Zimbabwe, the organization is providing consulting services to develop the Norton (Lentsloane) and Eco-Soft Special Economic Zones in Harare, privately owned by TD Holdings.

TD Holdings has interest in other businesses, which include, amongst others, Lunar Global Foods, and Redwing Agro-City.

The CAP has further obtained a 20-year concession of Logistics Bases in Douala in Central African Republic for the development of a Dry Port for the storage of goods.

The project will commence in April 2021 with an estimated investment value of US$ 30m.

The entity is awaiting confirmation of projects in Cameroon and the DRC.

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