Rustenburg

South Africa's North West Province is strategically located between Botswana in the west and the economic powerhouse and industrial heartland of Gauteng in the east. The province offers vast mineral resources, sophisticated tourist industry and agricultural abundance.

Opportunities abound for increasing the income-producing capacities of the local industries, enhancing product beneficiation within the province and participating more fully in the international markets linked to the region's resources. The province is home to bases for a number of international companies such as BMW, Samsung, Tiger Wheels, Shanghai Video and Audio, Lear Corporation, Kromberg and Schubert, Nestle, HJ Heinz, Hong Kong's Universal Enamelware, Firestone Tyres and Robert Bosch, to name a few.

A specialist investment promotion agency, Invest North West, offers incoming investors the convenience of a comprehensive service in setting up business. This investment promotion agency advises potential investors on potential investment projects, assists investors in finding the right business location, compiling business plans, finding appropriate funding, assisting with claims for incentive schemes, visa applications, and identifies suppliers and professional firms who can help in setting up the business.

The availability of a labour force that is flexible and adaptable, a low cost of living, a good quality lifestyle and a warm temperate climate, have turned the North West Province into a popular destination for foreign investors. The province offers investment opportunities in the following key areas:

• Leather processing and products
• Meat processing
• Automotive industries
• Mining and associated industries
• Other investment opportunities:
• • Food processing and related industries
  • Tourism and hotel industries
  • Agro-industries
  • Auto-components
  • Jewellery
  • Manufacturing
  • Textiles and clothing
  • Electronics & Electrical
  • Furniture
  • Manufacturing and tourism

There are many new developments which will substantially increase investment opportunities for the foreign investor:

The proposed Platinum Corridor toll road cutting through the North West Province will be the central connecting link of Walvis Bay in the west to Maputo, the port-capital of Mozambique (via the Maputo Corridor) in the east. The ability to send goods by road or rail from any port on this route will cut down substantially on transit times.
The Pretoria-Rustenburg Spatial Development Initiative (SDI), which forms part of the proposed Platinum Corridor SDI, focuses on the area between Pretoria and Rustenburg. This route will reinforce the belt of existing economic activity in the area.

The North West Development Corporation has developed some 930 hectares of land to create some 850 industrial sites. These factory sites, close to major markets and suppliers for raw material, can be customised to the individual industrialists' needs and are available for purchase or rental.

Location is one of the North West Province�s greatest natural advantages. Mafikeng, the provincial capital, is a staging post for rail and road traffic into the sub-continent. The main Cape Town to Zimbabwe railway line passes through Mafikeng via Botswana, with a feeder line to Angola. In terms of roads, the vital east-west corridor linking Maputo on the Eastern African seaboard and Walvis Bay on the Western African seaboard runs through the North West Province.

Investors can take advantage of the dynamic business prospects available in the North West Province through its vast mineral resources, established manufacturing base, appealing tourist industry and agricultural abundance.

The North West Province offers a year-round, sunny temperate climate with hot summers and mild winters. This is a summer-rainfall region � the weather is usually dry with a short rainy season from December to March. The hottest months are usually February and March and the coldest, July and August.

The North West is basically divided into five geographic areas:

The south is dominated by the industrialised mining towns and cities that are collectively known as the Kosh area which includes Orkney, Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom.

In the central area, Mafikeng dominates the region and has been chosen as the capital seat due to its location, administrative infrastructure and other well-developed facilities such as a large convention centre, state-of-the-art recording studios, a leading university and an airport with one of the longest runways in South Africa.

In the west, Vryburg enjoys the unofficial status of being the �Texas� or the agricultural capital of the North West.

In the northern areas, the city of Rustenburg represents the major industrial and residential centre, boasting well developed industrial and mining infrastructures as well as world famous tourist resorts.

In the densely populated far eastern areas, Mabopane, Brits, Ga-Rankuwa and Temba are residential, agricultural and industrial centres and the economy of the area is closely linked to that of neighbouring Gauteng.