In line with its corporate mandate to facilitate collaboration between private and public entities in the automotive sector, the Automotive Industry Development Centre – Eastern Cape (AIDC-EC) has successfully lured the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) Show to its shores.

The NAACAM Show 2025, hosted in partnership with the AIDC-EC, will take place in Nelson Mandela Bay, at the Boardwalk International Convention Centre, from August 13 to 14.

The AIDC-SA’s main objective is to provide a platform in the province for networking between component suppliers and manufacturers, to promote business-to-business interactions, showcase the province’s business infrastructure for investment and trade, and promote the province as a destination for tourism.

Further, the NAACAM Show offers an important collaboration platform for “all stakeholders involved in shaping policy direction and support mechanisms for maintaining and growing the automotive sector’s competitiveness in the province,” says AIDC-EC CEO Thabo Shenxane.

“As a co-host, it is anticipated that the AIDC-EC will be participating in different topical issues and panel discussions.  Staff, Executive Management, and Board Members will be involved in different areas of the event. It is important to make sure the event is hosted successfully to ensure the mandate of collaboration between the private and public sectors is achieved,” explains Shenxane.

He adds that key topics being addressed include charting the future of the automotive sector in South Africa and the critical importance of battery value chain beneficiation.

Moreover, challenges facing business, such as closures and job losses, as well as scaling up components’ exports, future skills development, and the uptake of AI and smart manufacturing, will also be addressed.

Shenxane says that as part of its engagements with the sector, the AIDC-EC will also promote and expand on its ‘AIDC Eastern Cape Automotive Masterplan’ as well as the ‘South African Automotive Masterplan 2035’.

Masterplan in Action

“The AIDC-EC Automotive Masterplan and the South African Automotive Masterplan 2035 are strategic frameworks that aim to develop and grow South Africa's automotive industry, focusing on innovation, competitiveness, and sustainable development,” Shenxane explains.

Importantly, through NAACAM, the masterplans’ goals of industry alignment and promotion, networking and collaboration, showcasing innovation and investment, policy and strategy feedback, as well as driving sustainable growth are more achievable.

He suggests that, for the sector to become a more formidable contributor to the South African economy, improved logistics and utilities infrastructure, as well as increased investments and the development of more futuristic skills programmes, are required.

Additionally, enabling policies and instruments that attract investors and facilitate small, medium-sized and microenterprise (SMME) development, and that are linked to government expenditure, are instrumental in promoting job creation.

“To date, the AIDC-EC has been able to implement at least four programmes and projects that attest to the Masterplans’ progress,” says Shenxane.

He elaborates, noting that the partnership between the AIDC-EC and tertiary education institute Nelson Mandela University has contributed to the provision of engineering bursaries to students, thus boosting the supply of quality engineering skills for the local sector.

Further, AIDC-EC has resumed its support of over 100 SMMEs, helping them achieve compliance with global automotive standards.

The third programme, Shenxane says, is important to the global transition towards electric vehicles (EV) and has implemented 15 EV charging stations in the province.

AIDC-EC engineers are deployed at different component suppliers to assist them with production efficiency management, as part of its fourth programme, which supports competitiveness among, and development of, component suppliers, concludes Shenxane.