LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SETTING MUNICIPAL PRIORITIES STRAIGHT
A key driver of improving the lives of ordinary citizens is the ability to attract investment and facilitate development. The City of Ekurhuleni has identified a number of priority areas to enable regional economic development.
T
he City of Ekurhuleni is a major economic and social role player within the context of South Africa by means of its strong industrial characteristics and contribution to the national economy, as well as the size and extent of the population that is contained within its administrative boundary. The ever-changing context of economic growth and advancement, and the need of the economy for sufficient skills to drive this growth, requires a higher education institution that can cultivate, support skills development aimed at advancing economies, and growing knowledgebased information flows and processing in a variety of fields and occupations.
EKURHULENI IN CONTEXT One of three metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng, Ekurhuleni is a key role-player in the Gauteng City Region (GCR) – a cluster of cities, towns and urban nodes that together make up the economic heartland of South Africa. Positioned on the eastern side of the GCR, the City of Ekurhuleni is the manufacturing and logistics hub of the country, well connected via rail, road and air to domestic and international markets, and increasingly aiming to brand and leverage its economy around the O.R. Tambo International Airport as an aerotropolis. Pre-Covid, the City of Ekurhuleni had a total GDP of R301 billion. In terms of its total contribution towards the Gauteng province, Ekurhuleni ranks third behind Johannesburg and Tshwane, relative to all the regional economies to total Gauteng GDP. 4
EKURHULENI 2022
