PROFILE DURBAN INVESTMENT PROMOTION AGENCY GOVERNMENT/ LOCAL GOVERNMENT/ LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES & BODIES
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PUBLIC SEGMENT
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www.dipa.co.za
VALUE PROPOSITION
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Durban’s Super Seven are the key reasons this city is attractive to business and leisure visitors. The acronym, ‘ALL HITS’ has been coined for easy recall: Award winning Municipality. Durban Investment Promotion Agency (DIPA) has the best run and financially strongest local government on the continent. Awards are bestowed through the likes of the Vuna Awards – recognising Durban with 18 500 employees as the best-run city in South Africa. International credit rating agencies have given Durban an investment grade credit ratings of AA+ off a budget of over R17-billion (US$2.5-billion) per annum. Lifestyle of business and pleasure together. This is a place to live, work and play. Largest human resources base. At the heart of SA’s most populace province of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban has large pools of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour, plus some of the best and fastest skills development taking place among its 3.2m cosmopolitan population. Highest growth rates. The economic growth rates are higher than the country’s average, in the region of six percent. Durban is targeting for a growth rate in the region of 7.5 percent to 9 percent. Infrastructure leader. Durban has the continent’s leading infrastructure base. This includes virtual infrastructure like globalised financial services, plus the physical infrastructure base. Tourism Crown. It is the largest domestic tourism destination in South Africa by a healthy margin, in addition to which concrete projects in place to become one of the largest international tourism destinations. Substantial, successful, sustainable business base already in place across the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
“The largest domestic tourism destination in South Africa by a healthy margin.”
COMPANY INFORMATION STATISTICS/ DEMOGRAPHICS/ HISTORY Year founded: 2001 Employees: Seven Branches: One – Durban Memberships: Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), Women’s Property Network (WPN), Prospection Business Forum
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BUSINESS & FINANCE Financial year-end: 30 June Holding company: eThekwini Municipality Bank: First National Bank Accountants: eThekwini Municipality CONTRACTS & AWARDS Recent Awards: 2009 FNB & KZN Top Business Portfolio Award (1st Overall Trophy), 2009 FNB & KZN Top Business Portfolio Award (Finalist Certificate), 2009 European CEO Award, 2009 Impumelelo Local Government Innovation Award, 2009 PMR Bronze Arrow Award, 2009 PMR Golden Arrow Award, UNIDO Global Pilot City – Durban Climate Change Partnership, eThekwini 2009 Mayoral Award for Business Excellence – “Grid Eye”, University of KZN, Graduate School of Business Board Appointment
www.impumelelo.net
DIPA-imp profile.indd 3
EMPOWERMENT STATUS Black Empowerment Level
90% black empowerment level
Gender Empowerment Level
75%
6.75%
gender empowerment level
total staff
FAST FACTS 1. Huge, expanding fibre optic system to really make Durban ‘The Smart City’ 2.Certificate of appreciation for the planning and execution of the 1st South African International Trade and Investment Conference and Exhibition 2007 3. Africa’s 2nd largest direct contact university based in Durban, the University of KwaZulu-Natal 4. Reasonable amounts of available vacant land at realistic prices across 2 300 km2 of the City 5. Just spent nearly half a billion Rand in terms of further expanding its footprint
CONTACT INFORMATION CEO: Russell D Curtis Acting GM: Foreign Investor Support: Atul Padalkar Marketing Officer: Farah Ally Physical address: 26th Floor, Old Mutual Centre, 303 West Street, Durban 4001 Postal address: PO Box 1203, Durban 4000 Telephone: +27 (0)31 336 2540 Fax: +27 (0)31 336 2511 Email: info@dipa.co.za Website: www.dipa.co.za
I M P U M ELELO 2010
VOLUME 11
77 5/26/10 4:41:01 PM