Protocol,
Allow us to take this opportunity to express our warmest gratitude for the honour bestowed upon us as a Province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) to take an active role in this airport cities conference.
Our participation in this conference is an important aspect of our quest to develop a regional economy in South Africa that responds to the needs of the 21st century whilst addressing the chronic challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality bedevilling our communities.
We view this conference as an important opportunity to exchange ideas with countries that have already developed aerotropoli as instruments for economic development. Before we make our contribution, we want to paint a particular context which guides our approach to the development of our own aerotropolis and the niche that we think it should occupy within our arsenal to fight unemployment, poverty and inequality as well as to foster global competitiveness.
“Over the past decade six of the world's ten fastest-growing countries were African. In eight of the past ten years, Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. Even allowing for the knock-on effect of the northern hemisphere's slowdown, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Africa to grow by 6% this year and nearly 6% in 2012, about the same as Asia”.
Director of proceedings, this excerpt from an article which appeared in The Economist on the 2nd of March 2013 titled “Africa Rising” sums up the levels of confidence and the good prospects that our continent has in the eyes of the international community and particularly prospective investors.
Pointedly, this positive outlook captured in this excerpt, is just reward for the many years of hard work that we, as Africans, have put in to ensure that we lift our continent out of the mire of underdevelopment and neglect and ensure that we take our rightful place among the continents of the world.
It is our view, director of proceedings, that this Airport Cities World Conference and Exhibition is testament to the fact that indeed our continent is on the rise. We feel that this validates the assertion that the next frontier for global economic growth is the continent of Africa.
Director of proceedings, we are of the firm view that no country, economy or destination is an island. The developments from the 2008 global economic downturn have, in a rather unkind way, taught us that as nations of the world, our fates are intertwined. The lesson here is that no country can prosper as an island in a sea of misery and underdevelopment.
In this regard, all our efforts to seize the opportunities that are created by the tectonic shift in the global economic balance of forces are based on the understanding that integration and collaboration are key to long-term and sustainable development of our continent, regions, countries and provinces or states.
That is why, therefore, our contribution, while it will be focusing on the KwaZulu-Natal aerotropolis, is geared towards responding to the urgent question of: “Are our interventions and strategies around our aerotropolis far-sighted enough to look at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and continent that will be economically-integrated?”.
Failure to do this, director of proceedings, we are certain, will result in the adoption of myopic strategies around our aerotropolis which, in the long term, will fail to live up to its potential and will render our economy uncompetitive.
Our comparative advantage
Before, I share our experiences in implementing this catalytic programme in KwaZulu-Natal, allow me to take a few minutes of your time to reflect some of the comparative advantages of the economy of KwaZulu-Natal.
The province boasts a highly advanced manufacturing sector, which, contributes close to 20% of the province’s gross-domestic product (GDP). It also boasts of a highly diversified agricultural sector. The province is the country’s leading producer of timber, processing over half of all timber used in the country, and accounting for a significant percentage of the country’s wood exports. Sugar cane is also a premier produce in the province with some of the country’s largest sugar processing plants.
The province has the highest export propensity, as well as one of highest level of
industrialisation in the country. The ports of Durban (Largest port in Africa in terms of container handling and volume of vessels) and Richards Bay, together, handle over 60% of South Africa’s cargo tonnage.
KwaZulu-Natal also boasts the newly built King Shaka International Airport, which handled over 1.2 million passengers in the 4th quarter of 2012 and the Dube Trade Port, aimed at stimulating and promoting the export of perishable goods. Richards Bay is the centre of the country’s aluminium industry operations, producing over 4% of the world’s export of aluminium. It is also the seat of the world’s largest sand mining and mineral-producing operations.
KwaZulu-Natal is a premier tourist destination, recording 956,550 foreign tourist visits in 2011, and has one of the best hotel occupancy rates in the country. The province boasts the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium, venue of the 2010 soccer World Cup semi-final; as well as two World Heritage Sites in the form of the Drakensberg Mountains and the Isimangaliso Wetland Park.
As we alluded earlier, the global recession has taught governments around the world new ways of doing business and the increasing role of government in the economy to cushion business. We have seen during the recession that devising strategies to cushion the local economy against external vagaries is critical.
Against this background, the aerotropolis strategy is one such attempt by the provincial government to broaden our industrial base and develop a resilient regional economy in Southern Africa, whilst addressing the chronic challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. Other strategies or programmes that we are implementing to achieve this include among others regional industrial economic zones, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and a number of infrastructure programmes.
Why an aerotropolis in KwaZulu-Natal?
As I alluded to above KwaZulu-Natal boasts of a newly built King Shaka International Airport, which handles close to 5 million passengers per annum.
We are blessed with a relatively undeveloped land in the vicinity of the airport, with approximately 70% of the land within a 15km radius of Dube TradePort being undeveloped, or under sugar cane cultivation. Given the Greenfield nature of the central aerotropolis site, we of the provincial government have been quick to seize the opportunity to develop and build the foundation for an aerotropolis correctly, with available land being developed in a planned and systematic manner.
Importantly, KwaZulu-Natal is ideally positioned as just such an economic hub, with the international airport and the region working seamlessly and in unison, within the framework of a single economic unit. The KwaZulu-Natal region is home to South Africa’s second largest provincial economy, a booming tourism sector, a burgeoning manufacturing sector, extensive farmland, world-class sporting venues and conference facilities and a rich cross-cultural legacy and sense of history.
With two of Africa’s busiest seaports – Durban and Richards Bay – and an ultra-modern freight and passenger facility at Dube TradePort, just 30km north of Durban, coupled with excellent road, rail and tele-communications infrastructure, KwaZulu-Natal is well-placed to significantly grow its position as an undoubted leader in the import and export market and has huge tourism potential.
Ladies and gentlemen, ours is most certainly a region geared for growth and we have the economic muscle to make substantial economic growth a reality. In fact, much of the groundwork has already been completed, with sizeable and strategic public sector investment in infrastructure, inclusive of the multi-billion Rand Dube TradePort, which is home to the new King Shaka International Airport, major seaport upgrades and the further development of road and rail links, together with the establishment, recently, of new sports facilities and extensions to Durban’s iconic international conference centre.
Our province enjoys a track-record for economic performance, contributing some 16,5% towards South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product. Our focus, going forward, remains on manufacturing and especially – manufacturing which is capable of adding value to our local raw materials, given the direct and immediate access to three of the country’s major export facilities, being the seaports of Durban and Richards Bay, and the premier air logistics platform that is Dube TradePort.
Dube TradePort is the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government’s flagship project, is our region’s single biggest infrastructural development and is Africa’s first purpose-planned aerotropolis and – with its continued development and additional provision of infrastructure – will be the catalyst, which drives Aerotropolis KZN, South Africa’s next major trade and business hub.
What is the progress to date?
Much groundwork has already been completed in this respect, as regards detailed planning, consultation and early phases of development. This conference, therefore, takes place at an opportune moment when the province of KwaZulu-Natal is developing an integrated aerotropolis strategy, which seeks to map a framework for implementing this noble economic development strategy.
The provincial Cabinet of KwaZulu-Natal recently developed the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS), which is aligned to the South African economic policy frameworks such as the National Development Plan (NDP) and the New Growth Path (NGP). The PGDS identified the development of an aerotropolis as a catalytic project envisaged to catapult the economic fortunes of the province and address the challenges mentioned above.
We envisage the aerotropolis strategy to be a tool for planning and advancing urbanisation in the province and build a resilient and sustainable regional economy in South Africa using KZN major airports as drivers. We are, therefore, ecstatic and ardent about an aerotropolis strategy because we picture it as a catalyst to accelerate economic growth in the province.
Programme Director, we call our strategy an integrated aerotropolis strategy for the following critical reason.
The strategy intends to achieve the following:
- proper governance model
- building a robust institutional arrangement for implementation
- forward looking
- commonality of purpose by all role players----Working together---Joint planning
- maximising economic potential through sectoral backward and forward linkages.
We view an aerotropolis as a catalytic programme that has economy wide impact in terms of unlocking economic opportunities in the province. The aerotropolis concept is befitting to our developmental agenda especially as it pertains to global connectivity, industrial development, tourism, infrastructure development, and engendering backward and forward linkages. We believe it is through this strategy that the province can achieve its developmental priorities.
Dube TradePort is a master-planned passenger and airfreight hub and comprises four development zones. In establishing the sophisticated infrastructure, which makes-up Dube TradePort, we have worked tirelessly to implement the internationally tried-and-tested aerotropolis model.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have come to understand the principles involved and recognise that Aerotropolis KZN will generate hitherto unheard of economic efficiencies. Our approach has been to make Dube TradePort the nucleus of Aerotropolis KZN, developing the area in such a way as to deliver a sustainable operating environment, which provides global connectivity.
Accordingly, Dube TradePort comprises Dube Cargo Terminal, Dube TradeZone, Dube AgriZone and Dube City. All four of these key zones are fully supported by Dube iConnect, providing the most advanced metro ethernet network in South Africa, in terms of the dedicated provision of a highly sophisticated, world-class IT and telecommunications platform digitally linking users with each other and the world. Dube TradePort is a Greenfield development and is being rolled-out as a 60-year master plan development.
This is and must necessarily be an all-inclusive economic imperative. The conception and establishment of Aerotropolis KZN embraces public and private co-operation and coordination, thereby ensuring both direct and indirect involvement in its expansion and maturity by not only the Provincial Government, but also Local Government and the private sector.
We, of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government are proud of the fact that Dube TradePort, as the basis for Aerotropolis KZN, was well thought out, was initiated as a long-term development project and, all importantly, had the in-built engine to drive still greater aerotropolis development.
Dube Air Services African strategy
But, Director of Proceedings, we are cognisant of the fact that regional and international connectivity is a necessary condition for the establishment of an aerotropolis. We are, therefore, not coming here only with plans. The Dube Trade Port, which is the heart of our aerotrpolis, has been hard at work ensuring that this asset begins to yield returns for the province.
To this end, we have developed the Dube Air Services African Strategy. In accessing SADC countries, Dube TradePort Corporation’s African strategy has focused on ‘partnering’ with SA Express, which is basing a fleet of 50-seat jet aircraft at King Shaka International Airport, combining relatively small capacity with speed and, thus, allowing for high frequency of service.
SA Express has established an operational base in Durban to exploit commercial activity in SADC. We are exploring 10 routes, with routes to Lusaka and Harare already established in 2012. Other routes that are being actively explored are to Gaborone, Maputo, Lubumbashi, as well as Vilanculos.
We are convinced that the SA Express feeder routes into SADC countries will assist in connecting passengers from East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. Similarly, international airlines will benefit from passengers from East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town aiming to connect out of Durban.
KwaZulu-Natal aerotropolis vis-à-vis OR Tambo Aerotropolis
Director of proceedings, King Shaka international airport has always played an important role as a regional anchor or secondary hub airport for country. As such, the development of the aerotropolis KZN remains critical to provide agility and efficiency in global international trade.
We view the two aerotropoli in South Africa as complimentary rather than competitors. We, therefore, believe the success of our aerotropoli initiatives hinge primarily on collaboration between Gauteng and KZN provincial governments together with our international partners. Director of Proceedings, this is our story, a developmental vision to develop KwaZulu-Natal regional economy using King Shaka international airport as an anchor.
This vision signals the germination of an immortal seed of economic development, not only in our province, but the country, SADC region and the continent at large. We invite you to join us as we watch this wonderful story unfold.
Director of proceedings, allow us to share with you a video clip that shows visual images of our aerotropolis and the envisaged future developments around the airport.
I thank you!
