Investments totalling R7.7-billion are heading directly to the City of Cape Town, mayoral committee member for economic opportunities and asset management James Vos said on Sunday.

Of the investments announced at last week’s Presidential Investment Summit, R7.7-billion would be invested directly into Cape Town. The investments included Google (R2.2-billion), Amdec (R2-billion), Capita (R500-million) and Teraco (R3-billion), Vos said in a statement.

“There is no better testament to our investment ecosystem. Major international corporations know that they can access world-class infrastructure, sound governance, a skilled workforce, and the political will to secure significant investment which will result in job creation,” he said.

The city was ready to partner with the public and private sector to help attract investments that would drive demand and make sense.

“Our investment facilitation unit, within the city’s enterprise and investment department, focuses exclusively on attracting investment, providing various kinds of specialist support to small and large businesses, as well as investment incentives and skills development so we can help businesses reach their full potential and employ more people,” Vos said.

The city provided funding to and collaborated with strategic business partners (SBPs) to actively seek out opportunities to grow the economy by attracting investment. Due to the Covid-19 national lockdown, part of the strategic plans to plot the road to recovery was to ask SBPs to pivot their operations, which resulted in significant investment and job creation.

Between April and September 2020, the City’s SBPs collectively facilitated R8.8-billion worth of investment, created 4980 jobs, and trained 1366 people, despite the various stages of the national lockdown and economic downturn.

“Two of our SBPs, Wesgro’s investment promotion unit, assisted by the InvestSA One Stop Shop, helped facilitate the Amdec deal, with CapeBPO (formerly known as BPeSA), facilitating the Capita investment.

“The strategies implemented and the collective achievements by our SBPs proves that where there is a will there is a way to plot a sustainable path to economic recovery,” Vos said.