The City of Tshwane will be the host city for the 2023 iteration of the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) Show, which will take place from August 30 to September 1 next year.

Held in partnership with the Tshwane Economic Development Agency (TEDA), the event will take place at the Sun Bet Arena at Time Square Casino, in Pretoria, making it the event’s first show in Gauteng since its launch in 2017.

The NAACAM Show 2023 will include a two-day exhibition and a half-day thought leadership conference.

The City of Tshwane, said Economic Development and Spatial Planning MMC Councilor Andre le Roux, “remains a leader in the automotive sector, as it is host to four leading original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and accounts for over 45% of all passenger vehicles produced in South Africa”.

In terms of the priorities outlined by the partnership with NAACAM, Le Roux added that the city has identified the sector as “an important lever and priority to address unemployment that is so rife in the city, and which mainly affects the youth”.

The automotive sector, he explained at a briefing on December 9, “provides an opportunity to absorb the youth into gainful and meaningful employment”, which he said was already evidenced through the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone and Tshwane Automotive City (TAC), where significant job opportunities have been created.

The City of Tshwane’s hosting of the NAACAM Show 2023 provides further impetus to the growth of the sector, and boosts investor confidence in the city, Le Roux added, noting that “hosting events of this magnitude brings with it major responsibilities on the part of the host city and organisers, and it is important that we work hard to showcase our capabilities and deliver on what we have committed to, both as TEDA and as the City of Tshwane”.

The automotive sector is expected to gain further momentum in the province, with the establishment of the TAC, which will serve as an “ignition” project for an integrated logistics framework, focusing on inland ports and manufacturing hubs linked to rail corridors that links Tshwane with strategic ports in South Africa and the Southern African Development Community.

The infrastructure development and multi-mode linkages, envisaged to support the TAC, will create a transport corridor that will position the City of Tshwane as an automotive trade and investment gateway for Africa.

In addition, NAACAM Gauteng regional chairperson Goodrich Kowane said that while Tshwane won the bid to host the 2023 Show, the city “spoke to the value proposition it had to offer, and spoke to the aspirations as a component manufacturer in the province and the country”.

Further, NAACAM executive director Renai Moothilal said the NAACAM Show was the “first of its kind” when it was launched in 2017 and is convened by key stakeholders in the South African automotive manufacturing sector in an events platform with a dedicated focus on facilitating localisation, trade and transformation in South Africa’s highly diverse OEM value chains”. 

The last NAACAM Show was held in 2019, with a decision not to host the 2021 version owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019, the Show had over 1 200 attendees and 204 exhibitors, with 29 delegates attending from African countries, NAACAM commercial director Shivani Singh commented.

Since then, however, the dynamics of the South African automotive sector have changed significantly owing to global supply chain disruptions and the adoption of a new automotive incentive framework.

“Component suppliers have made progress in unlocking new local content; driving investment; and acquiring new technologies to support their OEM customers’ requirements. The NAACAM Show 2023 will provide an opportunity to showcase these best practices, but also provide opportunities for component suppliers and stakeholders to better understand the key drivers and trends in the sector”, said Moothilal.

NAACAM is recognised as the voice of the South African automotive component industry both domestically and internationally. As a member-driven organisation, NAACAM is at the forefront of industry leadership, representation, and stakeholder engagement for automotive component manufacturers.

Anchoring NAACAM’s membership base are component suppliers to OEMs for assembly in South Africa, as well to OEM export markets, and the domestic and global aftermarket.