At the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ, we have always held at our centre a determination to engage with all our stakeholders. With this in mind, we started the year by taking a long, hard look at what
we want to achieve and how we propose to do so. This, for example, has required in-depth thinking and conversations about identifying particular customer needs for which we can offer a service or solution that addresses this directly and efficiently. In this approach, we are not competing with other special economic zones (SEZs) – we are vying for a customer that knows exactly what they want and who expects us to place them at the centre of their business journey.
We have looked at what we do – our core offering – and at those adjacent influences that will enable us to implement transition strategies to meet new market demands. And finally, we have given thorough consideration as to how we can cater for disruptive influences – the transformational forces – that will impact our ability to address a changing world.
The adjacent influences challenge us to integrate our values and vision into scenario planning that looks beyond our current maritime, energy, engineering and shipbuilding sectors. There are large ripples in the marine world, driven largely by the increased focus on enforcing environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles and the drive for faster
decarbonisation, and we need to prepare to address them. We can do this by remaining adaptable, committed, responsive and focused on creating value for our stakeholders.
We also need to accept that there will be disruption – products or services may emerge that we have not foreseen but for which we will need to continue collaborating with existing and new stakeholders, respond innovatively and be willing to shift perspective.
Our vision remains – we aim to be Africa’s premier maritime, energy, and logistics freeport, offering a world-class integrated shipyard, engineering, fabrication, logistics, and related services within an SEZ to zone users and tenants. As such, our mission will be to foster responsible investment that creates shared prosperity for Saldanha Bay as a sustainable pioneer in the region.
These currents and eddies of where we are, where we are going and what challenges and solutions may lie ahead were sharply illustrated by four recent events. The first was the announcement at the recent 2022 South Africa Investment Conference of substantial investment commitments to the SBIDZ within solar panel manufacturing, fuel storage, shipbuilding and associated services. Second, was the recent report by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, identifying Saldanha Bay as a potential green hydrogen fuel export hub and, thirdly, the announcement by ArcelorMittal that it was looking to revive its Saldanha steel plant. Lastly, the new port regional approach adopted and informed by the Transnet National Ports Authority’s Re-Imagined Operating Model to fulfil its mandate of enabling and facilitating a transformed and sustainable maritime economy in the country.
All four of these speak to our core business, the development of adjacent industries and the transformational forces that will shape our future.
We need to continue to leverage the fact that the SBIDZ is the first SEZ to be located within a port and that we are a freeport situated in the largest and deepest natural port in the Southern Hemisphere. Going back to my earlier comments about customer needs, we need a network of utilities and logistics infrastructure that is cost-efficient to address this. In addition, we need to offer a simple, consistent and digitised customs and tax regime that is attractive to investors.
As an SEZ and a state-owned enterprise, we are a facilitator and enabler of the interactions between several sectors. Our business remains to promote industry and help solve meaningful problems in the economy.
In short, the SBIDZ – as the first freeport and customs-controlled area within an SEZ that targets the marine, energy, logistics and engineering services – is ideally suited to offer its investors economic advantages when trading within the zone, thereby accelerating business growth, contributing to improved efficiency, productiveness, competitiveness and innovation, resulting in higher income and more opportunities for the people.
THE GREENING OF THE SEAWAYS
Maritime shipping may only account for 3% of all global emissions, but 80% of world trade is moved by sea. To put this in perspective, cargo shipping creates one billion tonnes of climate pollution each year – the equivalent of what an industrialised country like Germany produces annually. And if the sector continues using fossil fuels, the contribution may rise to 10% by 2050…
Q&A
with Vanessa Davidson
Vanessa Davidson, Special Projects Manager at Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ), was nominated for the inaugural Blue Economy Champion Award for Special Projects. Vanessa is a founding member of BlueCape, “established in 2019 to support businesses and investors in the ocean economy, to remove barriers to entry, and to support skills development and transformation for job creation”…
THE BENEFITS OF POSITIONING SALDANHA BAY AS AN EXPORT HYDROGEN HUB
Recently, the Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus (SBIC) – a programme of the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ) – staged a series of webinars around the challenges and opportunities presented by the energy transition…
WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE FUTURE
In March, the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ) CEO, Kaashifah Beukes, and members of her executive board and management team met with the Saldanha Bay Municipality Executive Mayor Councillor, André Truter, and Ms Cornell de Kock, Director of Economic Development and Strategic Services for the municipality, at the SBIDZ Access Complex…
Quarterly newsletter | Issue 7, May 2022
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Freeport Saldanha · 24 Main Road · Saldanha Bay, Cape Town 7395 · South Africa
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