Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Dec/January 2020 | Page 5

Stake Your Claim in Joburg’s New Gold Rush T he City of Johannesburg continues to enjoy the New Gold Rush. The modern-day scramble for investment in Africa’s leading capital is no longer driven by the promise of gold. Instead, a boom in property development is attracting smart investors. Led by the innovative tax incentive that has seen billions of rand invested in the Inner City, Joburg is set to continually experience massive growth and wealth, creating work opportunities for thousands of residents. The City has recently announced exciting new development and investment opportunities. “We’ve witnessed a surge of impactful investment in income-generating properties in other parts of the City, including Sandton, Rosebank, Rivonia, Midrand and Protea Glen in the south. As a result of the City’s promotional efforts, we have recorded accelerated investment amounting to R8.7 billion in 2017-18, and R17 billion in 2018- 19 financial years. We are emboldened to project annual city-facilitated annual investment to R25 billion and R39 billion for 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively,” says City Manager Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni. To accelerate economic growth and create high-value jobs, we are targeting entrepreneurs who have an eye on the new economy. Johannesburg has comparative advantages to target and land investments in the following sectors: • Manufacturing of electrical equipment; • Production and assembly of medical and optical equipment; • Establishment of modern and liberalised financial services • Expansion of ICT services • Research & development • Legal activities • Expanded business services • Education services expansion and deregulation Other opportunities include crowding in of multi-sector investment to catalyse economies in other City nodes, which include Gautrain stations at Park Station, Marlboro- Alexandra, and Midrand. Additional locations ready to host investment include commercialised innovation districts along the Louis Botha, Empire/Perth and Turffontein corridors. The City is geared to assist and support investors navigate government systems and services to expedite the establishment of business in Johannesburg.